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Splenosis: a rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding successfully treated with transarterial embolization

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Abstract

Splenosis, the ectopic implantation of splenic tissue, most commonly occurs in the peritoneal cavity following traumatic splenic injury with subsequent splenectomy. This entity is asymptomatic in a vast majority of patients. Occult gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is a relatively rare presentation of splenosis. Previous cases of splenosis resulting in refractory GI bleeding have been treated with surgical excision of the ectopic splenic implant. We report a case of splenosis presenting as occult GI bleeding that was eventually treated with transarterial embolization. This presents an alternative minimally invasive approach to treating a patient with refractory GI bleeding secondary to splenosis.

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Disclosures

Conflict of Interest:

Dr. Evan Leitz and Dr. Sharon Kwan declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human/Animal Rights:

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008(5).

Informed Consent:

Per institutional policies, informed consent was not required for case reports consisting of a single individual if all identifiers have been removed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Body Imaging, Department of Radiology, University of Washington Medical Center, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA

    Evan M. Leitz

  2. Section of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology, University of Washington Medical Center, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA

    Sharon W. Kwan

Authors
  1. Evan M. Leitz
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  2. Sharon W. Kwan
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Correspondence to Sharon W. Kwan.

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Leitz, E.M., Kwan, S.W. Splenosis: a rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding successfully treated with transarterial embolization. Clin J Gastroenterol 8, 126–129 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-015-0567-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-015-0567-x

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