Spontaneous splenic rupture during infection of cytomegalovirus. A case report

Abstract

Splenic rupture is most commonly encountered after blunt abdominal trauma. Spontaneous atraumatic splenic rupture is a rare but dramatic occurrence that is most commonly attributed to infection or neoplasia. We report the case of a 27-year-old female patient without pathological history. Admitted to the emergency department for the sudden onset of left hypochondrial pain associated with vomiting, rapidly progressing to hypovolemic shock. She had reported an influenza-like illness a week earlier for which her COVID-19 PCR was negative. Emergency abdominal ultrasound and CT-scan revealed a ruptured spleen and widespread hemorrhagic fluid in the abdomen. Exploration revealed multiple ruptures in the spleen capsule. The patient underwent splenectomy with good clinical evolution. Despite the rarity of this condition, physicians should consider the diagnosis of spontaneous non traumatic splenic rupture when encountering healthy patients presenting with nonspecific left hypochondrial abdominal pain and hypovolemia. Mortality is essentially related to the delay in diagnosis and treatment and to the severity of the underlying pathology. Treatment often consists of splenectomy.

Keywords

• CMV
• Spontaneous spleen rupture
• Imaging