Peliosis of the spleen as an unusual cause of splenic rupture: A case report and a review of literature. 2024

Alžbeta Blichárová, and Zuzana Benetinová, and Tibor Mátyás, and Peter Labaj, and Ľudmila Verbóová, and Vladimír Tancoš, and Adam Nedoroščík
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University and Louis Pasteur University Hospital in Košice, Rastislavova 43, 040 01, Košice, Slovakia. Electronic address: alzbeta.blicharova@upjs.sk.

Isolated splenic peliosis is an extremely rare condition characterized by the presence of multiple blood-filled cavities, occasionally resulting in non-traumatic splenic rupture with fatal bleeding. In our case, a 64-year-old man was brought by ambulance due to weakness and abdominal pain without nausea or febrility. On clinical examination, the patient was sensitive to palpation with significant tenderness over the abdomen but no associated features of peritonitis. He collapsed during the imaging examination and became unconscious and asystolic. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was not successful. The patient died approximately within 2 hours of admission to the hospital. Postmortal examination showed 2800 ml of intraperitoneal blood with clots and a laceration of the lower pole of the spleen. Macroscopic examination of the spleen revealed huge nodular splenomegaly, measuring 21 cm x 19 cm x 5 cm, weighing 755 g. On the cut surfaces, multiple randomly distributed blood-filled cavities ranging from 0,5 to 2 cm in diameter were seen. At microscopic examination, the specimens showed multiple irregular haemorrhagic cyst-like lesions that were not lined by any epithelium or sinusoidal endothelium, consistent with the diagnosis of peliosis lienis. Although the condition is often clinically silent, the forensic pathological significance arises from the differential diagnosis of resultant intraperitoneal haemorrhage and sudden death, mimicking a violent death.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D006465 Hemoperitoneum Accumulations of blood in the PERITONEAL CAVITY due to internal HEMORRHAGE. Hemoperitoneums
D006470 Hemorrhage Bleeding or escape of blood from a vessel. Bleeding,Hemorrhages
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013154 Spleen An encapsulated lymphatic organ through which venous blood filters.
D013161 Splenic Rupture Rupture of the SPLEEN due to trauma or disease. Rupture, Splenic,Ruptures, Splenic,Splenic Ruptures
D013163 Splenomegaly Enlargement of the spleen. Enlarged Spleen,Spleen, Enlarged
D049429 Forensic Pathology The application of pathology to questions of law. Pathology, Forensic

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