Spleen enlargement in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver - Correlationbetween degree of fatty infiltration in liver and size of spleen

Our purpose was to determine if there is an association between nonalcoholi c fatty liver and spleen enlargement. Spleen volume was measured by compute d tomography (CT) in 32 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver (23 men and 9 women; age, 41.6 +/-: 12.1, range, 22-69 years) and 34 patients with norm al liver (19 men and 15 women; age, 51.1 +/- 16.2, range, 14-86 years). The values were compared with the patient's demographic data, the liver-to-spl een (L/S) ratio of CT Hounsefield unit measurements, and the results of liv er function tests. Diagnosis of fatty liver was made if the L/S ratio was l ess than 1.0. The mean spleen volume was 73.0 +/- 24.4 cm(3) (range, 21.1-1 06.1) in normal subjects and 141.2 +/- 54.1 cm(3) (range, 44.1-267.3) in pa tients with fatty liver (P < 0.0001). Multivariate linear regression analys is identified that only the L/S ratio (P < 0.0001) and age (P < 0.01) were significantly correlated with spleen volume. Using forward selection stepwi se regression, the L/S ratio entered first (beta = -0.634) and age second ( beta = -0.293). In conclusion, spleen enlargement was commonly seen in pati ents with nonalcoholic fatty liver, and the recognition of this association may halt further attempts to evaluate the cause of spleen enlargement.