Multiple intraabdominal soft-tissue masses in a man awaiting liver transplantation - A case study and discussion

An unusual cause of abdominal soft-tissue masses is accessory splenic tissu e. The Tc-99m-sulfur colloid liver-spleen scan is a valuable adjunct in mak ing this diagnosis. This report describes a 47-year-old man who had an abdo minal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan as part of a pretransplant eval uation and was found to have multiple soft-tissue masses in the posterior a spect of his abdomen. His history was pertinent for a traumatic rupture of the spleen at the age of 12 years, for which he required a splenectomy. He had no symptoms or physical findings to indicate a lymphoproliferative diso rder or other malignant process. His peripheral blood smear was remarkable for the absence of Howell-Jolly bodies. The nuclear scan confirmed the pres ence of uptake in the soft-tissue masses seen on MRI scan. This finding sup ports our diagnosis of splenosis in a man with a history of traumatic splen ic rupture as a child.