Published in:
01-09-2018 | Classics in Abdominal Radiology
A “wandering spleen”
Published in: Abdominal Radiology | Issue 9/2018
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A “wandering” spleen, also known as floating, aberrant, or ptotic spleen, describes splenic position outside of its expected location in the left upper quadrant (Fig. 1). On a standard abdominal radiograph, the “lost” spleen may be seen as a central mass in combination with the absence of the normal splenic shadow in the left upper quadrant; bowel can then fill the vacated splenic fossa (Fig. 2) [1]. With other imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT) and sonography, the wandering spleen can be found elsewhere in the abdomen or pelvis (Fig. 3A, B) [2, 3].
Fig. 1
Several people “wandering” through a hedge row maze. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hedge_Maze,_St_Louis_Botanical_Gardens_(St_Louis,_Missouri_-_June_2003).jpg), accessed November 27, 2017 (public domain)
Fig. 2
CT scout view demonstrates the absence of splenic outline in the left upper quadrant, gas-filled bowel loops in the vacated splenic fossa (red arrows), and a large central abdominal mass (black arrows)
Fig. 3
Coronal (A) and sagittal reconstructed (B) contrast-enhanced CT images in the same patient demonstrate migration of the spleen from the left upper quadrant into the mid to lower abdomen, centrally (white arrows). Note the elongated splenic vascular pedicle (yellow arrows)
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