title: Epidermoid cyst of the spleen.
abstract: We report the case of a patient with a palpable mass and abdominal pain in the left upper quadrant. A physical examination revealed tenderness in this region. An ultrasound performed initially showed a large cystic structure. A CT examination revealed a large cyst originating in the spleen with loculations in its upper part and focal calcification in the wall. On MRI, the cystic mass showed high signal on T1-weighted and T2-weighted images. The carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) was measured at 88 U/ml (standard <37.1 mUI/l). According to the imaging examinations and laboratory tests performed, it was impossible to determine if the splenic cyst was parasitic or non-parasitic. Given the most important risks of complications encountered in parasitic cysts, it was decided to treat this splenic cyst as a parasitic cyst. For this reason, an elective laparoscopic splenectomy with preoperative embolisation of the splenic artery was performed. The histological diagnosis was a primary epidermoid splenic cyst with inner lining epithelial cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, HFR Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland. voquocd0@etu.unige.ch
authors.forename: Quoc Duy
authors.initials: QD
authors.lastname: Vo
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Monnard
authors.forename: Henri Marcel
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Hoogewoud
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; D002114:Calcinosis; D004814:Epidermal Cyst / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010271:Parasites; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013156:Splenectomy; D013157:Splenic Artery; D013158:Splenic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen