Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume 24, Issue 11 , Pages 602-607, November 2008

Abdominal Splenosis Mimicking Hepatic Tumor: A Case Report

  • Ming-Lun Yeh

      Affiliations

    • Division of Hepato-biliary-pancreatic Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Liang-Yen Wang

      Affiliations

    • Division of Hepato-biliary-pancreatic Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr Liang-Yen Wang, Division of Hepato-biliarypancreatic Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, 100 Tzyou 1st Road, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Ching-I Huang

      Affiliations

    • Division of Hepato-biliary-pancreatic Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Ming-Yen Hsieh

      Affiliations

    • Division of Hepato-biliary-pancreatic Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Zu-Yau Lin

      Affiliations

    • Division of Hepato-biliary-pancreatic Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Wan-Long Chuang

      Affiliations

    • Division of Hepato-biliary-pancreatic Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Wen-Tsan Chang

      Affiliations

    • Division of Hepato-biliary-pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chun-Chieh Wu

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pathology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chiao-Yun Chen

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Imaging, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Received 13 February 2008; accepted 22 May 2008.

Article Outline

Diagnosis of abdominal splenosis is often undiagnosed until treatment for splenic rupture or splenectomy. This report describes a patient with splenosis mimicking hepatic tumor. The patient had a history of splenic trauma with splenectomy and chronic hepatitis C. After routine abdominal ultrasound revealed a liver nodule, further imaging studies, including magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography and angiography, were performed. After the patient eventually underwent surgery, pathology revealed splenic tissue. Despite its distinguishable clinical features, splenosis is difficult to identify by modern imaging modalities. Therefore, accurate and timely diagnosis of this disease requires constant vigilance.

Key Words:  computed tomography , hepatocellular carcinoma , magnetic resonance imaging , splenosis , ultrasound

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PII: S1607-551X(09)70022-1

doi:10.1016/S1607-551X(09)70022-1

Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume 24, Issue 11 , Pages 602-607, November 2008

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