The (re)generation of splenic tissue.
A 48-year-old man with a history of a traumatic splenic rupture followed by splenectomy at the age of 5 years was referred to the outpatient clinic with markedly elevated liver enzymes. He was diagnosed with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Ultrasound of the upper abdomen revealed hepatomegaly and suggested a central mass in the liver. Subsequent MRI of the abdomen did not show a hepatic mass, but revealed multiple intraperitoneal and retroperitoneal ovoid structures with a maximum diameter of 3 cm. A peripheral blood smear did not reveal Howell-Jolly bodies suggesting intact splenic function. The diagnosis splenosis-that is, autotransplantation of splenic tissue after iatrogenic/traumatic rupture of the spleen-was considered and confirmed by SPECT-CT with technetium-99m ((99m)Tc) labelled heat-denatured autologous red blood cells.
Department of Internal Medicine, Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. j.w.hovius@amc.uva.nl
J W R
JW
Hovius
H J
HJ
Verberne
R J
RJ
Bennink
W L
WL
Blok
D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology; D017890:Splenosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon