Wandering Spleen: A Rare Diagnosis with Variable Presentation

We present two cases of wandering spleen, one in a 47-year-old woman who presented with constipation, and one in a 3-year-old girl who presented with acute abdominal pain. Wandering spleen is a rare clinical condition characterized by ectopic positioning of the spleen due to abnormal peritoneal attachments including the lienorenal and gastrosplenic ligaments. The spleen can “wander” or migrate into various positions within the abdomen or pelvis due to this ligamentous laxity. The clinical presentation of patients with this entity is variable and can range from an incidental finding to an acute abdomen associated with torsion. Various imaging modalities can be utilized for the diagnosis of this condition.

[1]  M. Büchler,et al.  Surgical Treatment of Patients with Wandering Spleen: Report of Six Cases with a review of the literature , 2007, Surgery Today.

[2]  C. Gie,et al.  Ectopic spleen presenting as a pelvic mass , 2007, International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

[3]  M. Yıldırım,et al.  Torsion of a Wandering Spleen Associated With Portal Vein Thrombosis , 2005, Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

[4]  J. Deux,et al.  Acute torsion of wandering spleen: MRI findings. , 2004, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[5]  Carlos V. R. Brown,et al.  Wandering spleen and its complications in children: a case series and review of the literature. , 2003, Journal of Pediatric Surgery.

[6]  Y. Itzchak,et al.  CT findings in congenital anomalies of the spleen. , 2001, The British journal of radiology.

[7]  L. Swischuk,et al.  Torsion of wandering spleen: The whorled appearance of the splenic pedicle on CT , 1993, Pediatric Radiology.

[8]  Robin Ap Wandering spleen: case report and review. , 1988 .

[9]  A. Simpson,et al.  Torsion of wandering spleen , 1965, The British journal of surgery.

[10]  I. Abell WANDERING SPLEEN WITH TORSION OF THE PEDICLE , 1933, Annals of surgery.

[11]  A. Robinson Wandering spleen: case report and review. , 1988, The Mount Sinai journal of medicine, New York.