Radiology Case Reports (Jul 2019)

Successful endovascular treatment of a spontaneous bleeding accessory spleen: A case report

  • Francesco Pane, MD,
  • Enrico Cavaglià, MD,
  • Mattia Silvestre, MD,
  • Milena Coppola, MD,
  • Fabio Corvino, MD,
  • Antonio Borzelli, MD,
  • Andrea Paladini, MD,
  • Francesco Giurazza, MD,
  • Antonio Corvino, MD,
  • Daniela Beomonte Zobel, MD,
  • Francesco Amodio, MD,
  • Francesco Capasso, MD,
  • Raffaella Niola, MD

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 7
pp. 787 – 790

Abstract

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Accessory spleens are often encountered in radiologic studies and they are not usually associated with symptoms. They could arise from autotransplantation of splenic tissue after splenic trauma or splenectomy (splenosis) [1]. In this case we describe a woman treated for splenectomy 20 years before and subsequently for adhesions, that suffered sudden left upper abdominal quadrant pain, weakness, and pale color. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed free spilling in the abdomen and venous bleeding of a big accessory spleen; thus the patient underwent transcatheter arterial embolization with coils. Due to the 2 previous surgical operations in the splenic loggia, endovascular treatment compared to “open surgery” was the best choice in this case because of determined less complications, a shorter period of hospitalization, and a reduction of health cost. Keywords: Bleeding, Embolization, Accessory spleen, Splenectomy