Rare cause of pleural nodularity: Splenosis.

Splenosis is a rare condition described as ectopic splenic tissue implantation generally after a splenic rupture. A 35-year-old male patient who had a history of splenectomy operation due to gunshot wound seven years ago was referred to our hospital with complaints, including exhaustion, sweating and shortness of breath. Thoracic computed tomography of the patient showed nodular pleural thickenings at the level of the left lower lobe, which proved to be unrelated with the presenting symptoms. The patient underwent a minithoracotomy for diagnosis and treatment. During the intraoperative observation, dark-colored, soft, multiple nodular lesions with a biggest size of 2 cm inside the visceral pleura over an area of 5 x 10 cm in dimension were observed. Also, a few tiny nodules in the lung parenchyma approximately 1-cm deep to the pleural nodules were palpated. The lesions were excised. The histopathological examination of the specimen showed splenic tissue in the lung parenchyma and pleura, so the lesions were accepted as splenosis. Pleuropulmonary splenosis, which develops generally after simultaneous rupture of the diaphragma and spleen, is a very rare condition. Most of the patients are asymptomatic and the lesions are detected accidentally. If the diagnosis can be made preoperatively, surgical excision is not needed.

Chest wall lipoblastoma in a seven-month-old girl: a case report.

Lipoblastoma is a rare benign tumor of adipose tissue seen almost always in infanthood and early childhood. It is typically located in the extremities and the trunk and less frequently in the head-neck region, mediastinum, and retroperitoneum. However, cases of pleural, thoracic wall, and pulmonary lipoblastoma have also been reported in the literature. Lipoblastoma is a tumor with good prognosis despite its potential for local invasion and rapid growth. Our patient is a 7-month-old girl who was brought to our clinic for a rapidly growing mass in the right hemithorax. With the aim of both diagnosis and treatment, the mass was removed by thoracic wall resection and the resultant defect covered with an absorbable polyglactine mesh. The excised mass was diagnosed pathologically as a benign lipoblastoma. In the postoperative period, the thorax wall was stable, and after 24 months of follow-up no recurrence was observed. In the literature, 4 types of thoracic wall lipoblastomas have been reported, but thoracic wall resection has not been applied in any benign lipoblastoma case. To the best of our knowledge, the only benign lipoblastoma case in which a thoracic wall resection was carried out, with its clinical and histopathologic specifications alongside that in the literature, is presented here for the first time.