Multiple space-occupying lesions of the spleen in a case of Gaucher's disease.

ABSTRACT

A 50-year-old female patient was admitted because of an enormously enlarged spleen and thrombocytopenia. Ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed multiple space-occupying lesions in the spleen. She was diagnosed as having Gaucher's disease based on the low level of beta-glucosidase activity in leukocytes and Gaucher's cells present in bone marrow aspirate. Severe hypersplenism necessitated splenectomy. Pathological studies of the excised spleen, including ultrastructural examinations, demonstrated that multiple space-occupying lesions in the spleen were composed of typical Gaucher cells.