Splenomegaly

Splenomegaly
Massively enlarged spleen, the result of extramedullary hematopoiesis, is outlined above. This patient's left upper quadrant appears more full than the corresponding area on the right. Image courtesy of Charlie Goldberg, M.D., UCSD School of Medicine and VA Medical Center, San Diego, California
ICD-10	Q89.0, R16.1
ICD-9	759.0, 789.2
DiseasesDB	12375
MedlinePlus	003276
eMedicine	ped/2139  med/2156
MeSH	D013163

WikiDoc Resources for Splenomegaly
Articles
Most recent articles on Splenomegaly Most cited articles on Splenomegaly Review articles on Splenomegaly Articles on Splenomegaly in N Eng J Med, Lancet, BMJ
Media
Powerpoint slides on Splenomegaly Images of Splenomegaly Photos of Splenomegaly Podcasts & MP3s on Splenomegaly Videos on Splenomegaly
Evidence Based Medicine
Cochrane Collaboration on Splenomegaly Bandolier on Splenomegaly TRIP on Splenomegaly
Clinical Trials
Ongoing Trials on Splenomegaly at Clinical Trials.gov Trial results on Splenomegaly Clinical Trials on Splenomegaly at Google
Guidelines / Policies / Govt
US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Splenomegaly NICE Guidance on Splenomegaly NHS PRODIGY Guidance FDA on Splenomegaly CDC on Splenomegaly
Books
Books on Splenomegaly
News
Splenomegaly in the news Be alerted to news on Splenomegaly News trends on Splenomegaly
Commentary
Blogs on Splenomegaly
Definitions
Definitions of Splenomegaly
Patient Resources / Community
Patient resources on Splenomegaly Discussion groups on Splenomegaly Patient Handouts on Splenomegaly Directions to Hospitals Treating Splenomegaly Risk calculators and risk factors for Splenomegaly
Healthcare Provider Resources
Symptoms of Splenomegaly Causes & Risk Factors for Splenomegaly Diagnostic studies for Splenomegaly Treatment of Splenomegaly
Continuing Medical Education (CME)
CME Programs on Splenomegaly
International
Splenomegaly en Espanol Splenomegaly en Francais
Business
Splenomegaly in the Marketplace Patents on Splenomegaly
Experimental / Informatics
List of terms related to Splenomegaly

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Splenomegaly is an enlargement of the spleen, which usually lies in the left upper quadrant (LUQ) of the human abdomen. It is one of the four cardinal signs of hypersplenism, the other three being cytopenia(s), normal or hyperplastic bone marrow, and a response to splenectomy. Splenomegaly is usually associated with increased workload (such as in hemolytic anemias), which suggests that it is a response to hyperfunction. It is therefore not surprising that splenomegaly is associated with any disease process that involves abnormal red blood cells being destroyed in the spleen. Other common causes include congestion due to portal hypertension and infiltration by leukemias and lymphomas.

• 

  Normal spleen

Complete Differential Diagnosis Splenomegaly

In alphabetical order.

• AIDS
• Angioimmunoblastic lymphoanedopathy
• Angiosarcoma
• Autoimmune hemolytic anemia
• Bacterial septicemia
• Bone marrow damage
• Bone marrow infiltration
• Brucellosis
• Castleman's syndrome
• Cavernous transformation of the portal vein
• Cellular infiltration
• Chronic myoletic leukemia
• Collagen vascular diseases
• Congestive heart failure
• Constrictive pericarditis
• Coronavirus
• Corynebacterium diphtheriae
• Cytomegalovirus
• Early sickle cell anemia
• Endocarditis
• Ehrlichiosis
• Eosinophillic granuloma
• Epstein-Barr Virus Infection
• Felty's syndrome
• Fever unknown origin
• Fibromas
• Fungal infections
• Gaucher's disease
• Hemangiomas
• Hamartomas
• Hemoglobinopathy
• Hemolytic anemia
• Hepatic echinococcosis
• Hepatic schistomasis
• Hepatic vein obstruction
• Hepatitis
• Hereditary spherocytosis
• Histiocytosis
• Histoplasmosis
• HIV
• Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Hurler's syndrome
• Hyperlipidemias
• Idiopathic splenomegaly
• Immune hemolytic anemias
• Infective Endocarditis
• Infectious mononucleosis
• Interleukin-2
• Iron deficiency anemia
• Leishmaniasis
• Letterer-Siwe disease
• Leukemia
• Lymphangiomas
• Lymphoid leukemia
• Lympho-reticulosarcoma
• Malaria
• Malignancy
• Melanoma
• Myelofibrosis
• Myeloid leukemia
• Myeloid metaplasia
• Monocytic leukemia
• Mononucleosis
• Myobacterium avium complex
• Myoproliferative syndrome(s)
• Niemann-Pick disease
• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Nutritional anemias
• Osteomyelosclerosis
• Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
• Polycythemia vera
• Portal hypertension
• Q fever
• Radiation
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• RMSF
• Sarcoidosis
• Schistosomiasis
• Serum sickness
• Sickle cell disease
• Splenic abscess
• Splenic artery anuerysm
• Splenic cysts
• Splenic hamartoma
• Splenic hemangioma
• Splenic vein obstruction/thrombosis
• Stillness disease
• Subacute bacterial endocarditis
• Syphillis
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Tangier disease
• Thalassemia major
• Thyrotoxicosis
• Toxoplasmosis
• Trauma
• Trypanosomiasis
• Tuberculosis
• Tumors
• Typhoid fever
• Vein obstruction
• Viral hepatitis
• Weil's disease
• Less common causes

  • Amyloidosis
  • Babesiosis
  • Gaucher's disease
  • Histoplasmosis
  • Kala-azar
  • Rickets
  • Schistosomiasis
  • Syphilis
  • Toxoplasmosis
  • Typhoid fever

Symptoms and signs

Symptoms may include abdominal pain, early satiety due to splenic encroachment, or the symptoms of anemia due to accompanying cytopenia.

Signs of splenomegaly may include a palpable left upper quadrant abdominal mass or splenic rub. It can be detected on physical examination by using Castell's sign or Traube's space, but an ultrasound can be used to confirm diagnosis.

Causes

Splenomegaly grouped on the basis of the pathogenic mechanism

Increased function	Abnormal blood flow	Infitration
Removal of defective RBCs Spherocytosis Thalassemia Hemoglobinopathies Nutritional anemias early sickle cell anemia Immune hyperplasia Response to infection (viral,bacterial,fungal,parasitic) Mononucleosis, AIDS, viral hepatitis subacute bacterial endocarditis, bacterial septicemia splenic abscess, typhoid fever brucellosis,leptospirosis, tuberculosis histoplasmosis malaria, leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis ehrlichiosis Disordered immunoregulation Rheumatoid arthritis SLE Serum sickness Autoimmune hemolytic anemia Immune thrombocytopenia sarcoidosis drug reactions Extramedullary hematopoiesis Myelofibrosis Marrow infiltration by tumors, leukemias marrow damage by radiation, toxins	Organ Failure Cirrhosis congestive heart failure Vascular hepatic vein obstruction portal vein obstruction Budd-Chiari syndrome splenic vein obstruction Infections hepatic schistosomiasis hepatic echinococcosis	Metabolic diseases Gauchers disease Niemann-Pick disease Hurler syndrome and other Mucopolysaccharidoses Amyloidosis Tangier disease Benign and malignant infiltrations Leukemias(acute,chronic,lymphoid and myeloid) lymphomas(Hodgkins and non-hodgkins) myeloproliferative disorders metastatic tumors(commonly melanoma) histiocytosis X Hemangioma,lymphangioma splenic cysts hamartomas eosinophilic granuloma

The causes of massive splenomegaly (>1000gms) are much fewer and include:

Thalassemia
Kala-Azar (Leishmaniasis)
Portal hypertension of Bilharziasis
Chronic myelogenous leukemia
lymphomas
hairy cell leukemia
myelofibrosis
polycythemia vera
Gauchers disease
chronic lymphocytic leukemia
sarcoidosis
autoimmune hemolytic anemia
Malaria

Treatment

If the splenomegaly underlies hypersplenism, a splenectomy is indicated and will correct the problem. After splenectomy, however, patients have an increased risk for infectious diseases.

After splenectomy, patients should be vaccinated against Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. They should receive annual influenza vaccinations. Long-term prophylactic antibiotics should be given.

See also

• sign (medicine)
• Hepatosplenomegaly

External links

• PatientPlus Splenomegaly and hypersplenism
• Template:MerckManual (Hypersplenism)

Template:WikiDoc Sources