HETEROTOPIC AUTOTRANSPLANTATION OF SPLEEN IC TISSUE FOLLOWING TRAUMATIC INJURY OF THE SPLEEN IN JUVENILE AGE - LATE FINDINGS

Children and adolescents, who received an autologous reimplant of the spleen because of traumatic injury between 1979 and 1986 were matched to a cohort of patients, splenectomized because of traumatic injury of the spleen as well and to a control group of healthy age matched indi viduals. In addition to a physical check-up, markers of humoral and ce llular immunity (e. g. lymphocyte subpopulations and phagocytosis of p neumococcy) as well as the coagulatory and fibrinolytic system were ex amined. All parameters tested, were found to be between results from s plenectomized and healthy individuals. Our studies stress the fundamen tal ability of autologous spleen transplants to take over part of the splenic function on the basis of a largerly histomorphologic restituti on. Thus autologous reimplantation of the spleen in children and adole scents is an excellent choice as compared to otherwise necessary splen ectomy, if preservation of the organ is impossible.