T. Nishida et al., SPONTANEOUS SPLENIC RUPTURE DURING THE COURSE OF A RUBELLA INFECTION - REPORT OF A CASE, SURGERY TODAY-THE JAPANESE JOURNAL OF SURGERY, 25(1), 1995, pp. 83-85
We report herein the case of a 26-year-old man who suffered a spontane
ous splenic rupture during the course of a rubella infection. Initiall
y, he presented with a high fever accompanied by a skin rash extending
from the body trunk to the extremities and was admitted to hospital 3
days after onset for sudden upper abdominal pain radiating to both sh
oulders. On admission, he was pale and sweating with hypotension. An a
bdominal ultrasonographic study revealed a collection of fluid in the
perisplenic space and exploratory laparotomy confirmed an intraabdomin
al hemorrhage from a ruptured spleen. The patient was treated by splen
ectomy and recovered uneventfully. The excised spleen was found to be
moderately enlarged with a denuded capsule. Because the patient had no
history of any external trauma and a positive serological test for ru
bella, we concluded that rubella contributed to the spontaneous spleni
c rupture in this case.