Clinical and pathological characteristics of abdominal ectopic spleen: 13 cases report / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the clinical manifestation, diagnosis and pathological features of abdominal ectopic spleen (AES) cases. Methods The clinical and pathological characteristics were retrospectively analyzed along with the followup data of patients diagnosed as AES in the Changhai Hospital affiliated to Naval Medical University from Jan. 2013 to Dec. 2018. Results A total of 13 cases of AES were diagnosed, of whom 7 cases (53.8%) were found due to medical examination, and only one case was diagnosed before operation, while the rest were considered as having tumor of the abdominal organ near the mass. Out of the 13 cases, the AES in 6 cases were located at the pancreas tail. The surgical excision samples showed an appearance of nodular lesion with clear contour, and the structure of spleen parenchyma could be identified under microscope. Among the 13 cases, spleen trabecular and obvious central arterioles were absent in 2 cases with history of surgery, while the rest 11 cases shared the pathological features of spleen trabecular, central arterioles and secondary follicles. All the 13 patients survived except one died due to progression of gastric cancer and another one missing of follow-up. Conclusions The AES lacks specific clinical features, which requires antidiastole with abdominal tumors. It is inferred from clinicopathological features that splenosis may differ from accessory spleen, that is, splenosis may lack typical spleen white pulp.