Sonographic Appearance of Accessory Spleen

Role of Doppler sonography in the evaluation of accessory spleens after splenectomy.

“…Therefore, these small ASs are frequently missed preoperatively. 6 It is well known that after splenectomy this remaining splenic tissue may substantially enlarge and may lead to difficulties in differential diagnosis. When these patients are examined with sonography, CT, or MR imaging for various reasons, these enlarged ASs may then resemble metastases, neoplasia due to lymphoproliferative disease, or tumors arising from adjacent organs, such as the left kidney, adrenal gland, and pancreas.…”

“…When these patients are examined with sonography, CT, or MR imaging for various reasons, these enlarged ASs may then resemble metastases, neoplasia due to lymphoproliferative disease, or tumors arising from adjacent organs, such as the left kidney, adrenal gland, and pancreas. 2,6,8,10,11,13,26,27 Additionally, the localization of an AS may also lead to difficulties in the differential diagnosis. 25 Although most ASs occur within the left upper part of the abdomen, they may, according to their embryologic contiguity to the genital ridge, occur elsewhere in the abdomen or even within the scrotum.…”

“…25 Although most ASs occur within the left upper part of the abdomen, they may, according to their embryologic contiguity to the genital ridge, occur elsewhere in the abdomen or even within the scrotum. 6,7,25,28,29 In the splenectomized patient, the diagnostic modality of choice for distinguishing an AS from other newly occurring tumors is radionuclide scanning with technetium Tc 99m, which is a highly specific diagnostic tool. 9,24,30 This method, however, is quite expensive, time-consuming, and not readily available in remote areas.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] A hypertrophic accessory spleen (HAS) occurring after splenectomy is one of the differential diagnoses of abdominal masses usually found incidentally in these patients. 1,2,[6][7][8][9][10][11] An accessory spleen (AS) is formed from separated fetal spleen tissue and in general measures a few millimeters in size. It is often missed during splenectomy.…”