Splenic torsion mistaken for an ovarian cyst: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Wandering spleen (or ectopic spleen) refers to a hyper-mobile spleen resulting in its displacement from the normal anatomical position to usually in the lower abdominal or pelvic cavity. While ultrasound is often the first radiological modality used, Computed Tomography (CT) shows a clear picture and aides to reach a diagnosis. In circumstances where appropriate imaging modalities are not available, or the operator is inexperienced, diagnosis of wandering spleen can be missed. CASE PRESENTATION: A 22-nulligravida unmarried Sindhi female had presented to the Emergency Room (ER) with a 5-day history of intermittent severe lower abdominal pain. An ultrasound at a local practitioner had suggested an ovarian cyst. Ultrasound-pelvis and later CT scan at our facility reported an enlarged wandering spleen with torsion of its pedicle and infarction. Exploratory laparotomy with splenectomy was done. An enlarged wandering spleen was found with torsion of the splenic vein and thrombosed arterial supply from omentum wrapped over the mass. The patient developed thrombocytosis post-surgery but otherwise did well and was discharged after 2 days. CONCLUSION: Splenic torsion secondary to a wandering spleen can be challenging to diagnose, especially in resource limited settings where ultrasound might be the only modality available. Timely diagnosis and proper intervention are key to saving the life and the spleen.

"Wandering Spleen" With Lymphomatous Involvement.

ABSTRACT: Wandering spleen is a rare condition caused by either lack or the laxity of ligaments, which results malposition in the lower abdomen or pelvis. FDG PET/CT is the cornerstone of the staging procedures in the management of lymphomas leading to upstaging and picking up occult lesions in the spleen and extranodal sites. Herein, we reported initial staging 18 F-FDG PET/CT findings of a woman with Hodgkin lymphoma whose spleen was absent in normal position and multiple intense heterogenous hypermetabolism in a pelvic mass raised a suspicion of wandering splenic involvement. The confirmation was made with selective spleen SPECT/CT images thereafter.

Wandering liver, spleen, and kidney: what the radiologist needs to know.

The wandering spleen, wandering liver, and wandering kidney are rare diagnoses that can be asymptomatic or are associated with nonspecific symptoms, making the clinical diagnosis elusive. In addition, given the small number of cases, these conditions are not well understood. Major complications of wandering spleen result from torsion of the vascular pedicle with resultant ischemia, physiologic dysfunction, and/or infarction. Wandering liver is commonly associated with bowel obstruction, particularly colonic volvulus, with very rare reports of hepatic ischemia or infarct. Wandering kidneys are not commonly associated with serious complications. In many cases, the wandering spleen, liver or kidney can be found in their anatomic position on static imaging and are only diagnosed during ultrasound or with serial radiographic or cross-sectional imaging with different patient positioning, or with prior studies demonstrating different locations of the involved organ. Treatment approaches for uncomplicated wandering spleen, liver, or kidney include watchful waiting and splenopexy, hepatopexy, or nephropexy, respectively. Complicated wandering spleens are treated with splenectomy. Given the variable clinical presentation of these conditions, imaging plays a pivotal role in diagnosing these rare and often incidentally discovered phenomena.

Gastric outlet obstruction secondary to a wandering spleen: systematic review and surgical management of a case.

INTRODUCTION: A wandering spleen occurs when laxity or absence of the suspensory ligaments allows migration throughout the abdomen. Gastric outlet obstruction resulting from this abnormality is rare. We present a systematic literature search and a case that was managed successfully with surgical intervention at our centre. METHODS: A systematic search of the PubMed, Embase™, Medline® and Google Scholar™ databases was carried out employing the combined search terms "gastric outlet obstruction" AND "wandering spleen". Six results were included for final analysis. RESULTS: All six search results described a single case each. Patients underwent surgical management (open or laparoscopic) after initial investigation utilising a range of modalities. There were no mortalities reported at 90 days. The single case we present was complicated by gastric perforation; the patient made a successful recovery following open splenopexy and stapled wedge resection of the stomach. CONCLUSIONS: A wandering spleen is a rare diagnosis and there are only six reported cases of gastric outlet obstruction secondary to a wandering spleen in the literature. None report associated gastric perforation. There are a variety of presenting symptoms, intraoperative findings and operative techniques used to address the gastrosplenic abnormality. The case reported by our centre adds to this limited evidence base and demonstrates a successful outcome from definitive surgical management. We highlight the need to seek early gastro-oesophageal expertise if any gastric pathology is found together with anatomical abnormality of the spleen.

Wandering spleen, which is torsioned with the distal pancreas.

There are many causes of acute abdominal pain. One of them is wandering splenic torsion. We aimed to discuss a case in which the distal pancreas and spleen were torsion together and underwent splenectomy in the light of the literature. A 19-year-old male patient with sudden onset of abdominal pain underwent splenectomy after physical examination and imaging revealed splenic torsion. Early diagnosis is important as life-threatening complications may develop. Emergency surgery should be performed in patients with splenic ischemia. It should be kept in mind that the pancreas may be torsioned along with the spleen. Surgeons need to be careful during splenectomy to avoid injury to the pancreas.

Patients with gastric volvulus recurrence have high incidence of wandering spleen requiring laparoscopic gastropexy and splenopexy.

PURPOSE: Though gastric volvulus in neonates and infants resolves by conservative therapy and aging, some cases require surgical intervention. This study aimed to review the cases of gastric volvulus requiring surgical intervention and evaluate their characteristics. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed gastric volvulus cases requiring surgical intervention. Surgical indication was persistent acute gastric volvulus and repeated hospitalization for gastric volvulus. We evaluated the characteristics of those cases requiring surgical intervention and the surgical results of laparoscopic gastropexy. RESULTS: The median age of patients included was 4 years (range: 1-6 years). All eight cases of gastric volvulus requiring sugery had congenital spleen diseases. Six of the eight cases suffered from a wandering spleen, while two cases presented with situs inversus with asplenia. Both splenopexy (preperitoneal distension balloon [PDB] or blunt separaion methods) and gastropexy were performed in cases with wandering spleen. No postoperative complications were reported in any of the eight cases, except the recurrence of gastric volvulus due to suture shedding in one case. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic gastropexy for gastric volvulus and splenopexy for cases concomitant with wandering spleen were found to be effective surgical approaches. Both PDB and blunt separation methods for making extraperitoneal pockets for the spleen were employed successfully.

Gastric volvulus and wandering spleen; a life-threatening surgical emergency.

Wandering spleen and gastric volvulus are two of the rarely encountered conditions occurring together with or without other congenital and acquired defects. These potentially fatal conditions originate from a shared cause, i.e. the defect of intraperitoneal ligaments resulting in a failure to withhold these organs at their anatomical position and alignment. This can come to attention in both childhood and/or adulthood, and the diagnosis calls for a high degree of suspicion and a failure to diagnose can culminate in death of both the organs, i.e. the spleen and stomach. We are presenting the case of a 20-year-old girl who underwent an emergency laparotomy for gastric volvulus and wandering spleen.

[Situs inversus associated with wandering spleen and common mesentery detected from medical imaging in Niamey (Niger): a case report]. / Situs ambigus avec rate baladeuse et mésentère commun découvert grâce à l'imagerie médicale à Niamey (Niger): à propos d'un cas.

Situs inversus is a rare anomaly characterized by mirror-image location of of thoracic and abdominal organs. It can be associated with several other malformations including common mesentery which is a rare type of malrotation that develops as a result of the rotation of the intestines and with wandering spleen which is a rare anomaly characterized by the unusual position of the spleen in the abdomen and that most often occurs in children. We here report the case of a male patient aged 8 years diagnosed with these three entities. He was admitted with chronic abdominal pain. Ultrasound assessment was performed. Clinical examination showed sensitive pelvic mass. Ultrasound objectified abnormal position of the liver and spleen (the liver in the left hypochondrium and the spleen in the right hypochondrium) and an oval isoechogenic mass characterized by tissue structures within the echo image in the spleen, located in the supravesical fossa, lateralized to the right. CT scan confirmed that the liver occupied both hypochondria, with the hilus and gallbladder found on the midline; the splenic fossa was empty and the supra-vesical pelvic mass was homogeneous, isodense to splenic parenchyma and raised in the same way to the spleen (it was a floating spleen), its arterial vascular pedicle was directly connected to the abdominal aorta. Intestinal rotation abnormality suggesting common mesentery was also objectified.

Splenectomy for Torsion of a Wandering Spleen in a Patient with Myeloproliferative Disease.

We herein report a rare case of torsion of a wandering spleen in a patient with myeloproliferative disease. A 66-year-old Japanese woman presented to our hospital with abdominal pain and a fever. She had a medical history of polycythemia and secondary myelofibrosis. Abdominal enhanced computed tomography showed an enlarged spleen without enhancement in the lower pelvic region. The clinical diagnosis was severe torsion of a wandering spleen in a patient with myeloproliferative disease, necessitating surgical intervention. Splenectomy was performed after de-rotating to revascularize the spleen. After the operation, the platelet count gradually increased, and aspirin was administered to prevent thrombosis.

Infarcted wandering spleen and pancreatic volvulus in a patient with concomitant Grynfelt-Lesshaft haernia.

Wandering spleen is a rare condition, generally due to congenital abnormalities of the dorsal mesogastrium or splenic suspensory ligaments and not traumatic events. The most frequent complication is torsion of the splenic hilus with ischemia or splenic infarction and its association with pancreatic volvulus is extremely rare. There are no reported cases of wandering spleen with pancreatic volvulus in association with a post traumatic Grynfelt-Lesshaft haernia. We present a case of a 43-year-old female patient with an association of these three entities and a history of abdominal trauma.

El bazo errante es una afección rara que en general se debe a anomalías congénitas del mesogastrio dorsal o de los ligamentos suspensores esplénicos, y no a traumatismos. La complicación más frecuente es la torsión del hilio esplénico con isquemia o infarto esplénico, y su asociación a vólvulo pancreático es extremadamente rara. No existen ningún otro caso reportado de bazo errante con vólvulo pancreático en un paciente que presenta una hernia lumbar de Grynfelt-Lesshaft postraumática. Presentamos el caso de una paciente de 43 años con asociación de estas tres afecciones y antecedente de traumatismo abdominal.

[Acute abdomen based on a wandering spleen]. / Acute buik op basis van een wandelende milt.

BACKGROUND: A wandering spleen is a relatively unknown condition, where the spleen may be enlarged and is located in an aberrant position in the abdomen. It is caused by abnormally constructed or absent ligaments that should keep the spleen in the correct position or an excessively long vascular stem. The pathophysiology is congenital or secondary to trauma, abdominal surgery, pregnancy or splenomegaly. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 21-year-old woman was presented at the emergency department with acute abdominal pain in the left lower quadrant. A CT-scan of the abdomen showed splenomegaly, with the spleen showing reduced blood flow and a location in the lower abdomen. During an emergency laparoscopy, the spleen was found to be ischemic based on a torsion of the vascular pedicle. A splenectomy followed and the patient showed an uncomplicated recovery. CONCLUSION: Splenopexy or splenectomy is the treatment of choice for a symptomatic wandering spleen.