Isolated Splenic Infarction in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus / 대한류마티스학회지

ABSTRACT

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystemic inflammatory autoimmune disease caused by various autoantibodies and immune complexes. Splenic involvement in SLE includes hypersplenism, splenic atrophy, and splenic infarction, which has rarely been reported. We report a case of SLE with isolated splenic infarction. A 20-year-old female patient was admitted complaining of general weakness, malar rash, and easy fatigue. She was diagnosed as having SLE with thrombocytopenia and received steroid treatment. On the 7th hospital day, she complained of severe left upper abdominal pain with sudden-onset. While abdominal ultrasonography showed only mild splenomegaly, abdominal CT and 99mTc-RBC splenic scintigraphy revealed segmental splenic infarction. She had no evidence of additional thrombotic event or hemorrhage. After administration of high dose steroid, abdominal pain subsided and splenic infarction was resolved.