Massive and widely distributed splenosis

A 45-year-old man, seropositive for hepatitis C, was examined because his l iver was palpable well below the costal margin. A CT examination revealed m ultiple nodules within the liver and also several sites of ectopic tissue. The patient had a splenectomy 25 years before. A radiocolloid study showed uptake, consistent with splenosis, in the thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and poss ibly the left arm. The magnitude of the ectopic tissue, and its multiple lo cations, indicated the ability of splenic cells to grow in a variety of bod y sites.