Spontaneous rupture of tuberculous spleen in a HIV seropositive patient on maintenance hemodialysis

Abstract

Spontaneous rupture of the spleen usually occurs secondary to infection, hematolo-gical disorders or infiltrative lesions of the spleen. In patients with positive human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) antibodies and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) who pre-sent with acute abdomen, splenic rupture should be considered as a possible cause and should addi-tionally be investigated for co-infection with tuberculosis. Spontaneous rupture of spleen in asymp-tomatic patients requires a high index of suspicion for diagnosis. We herein report on a HIV-positive patient on maintenance hemodialysis, who presented with spontaneous rupture of a tuberculous spleen.