Learning objectives
Description of the embryology,
anatomy and most common lesions of the spleen and their image findings on Computed Tomography (CT).
Provide the reader the ability to narrow the differential diagnosis of a spleen lesion based on its morphology,
post-contrast changes and follow-up.
Background
The spleen is an intra-peritoneal organ,
usually situated in the upper left quadrant of the abdomen.
Congenital and acquired diseases may affect this organ and the best imaging technique for its study is the abdominal CT.
However,
the spleen if often overlooked when reading CT images if one is not actively looking for a spleen disease.
This EPOS intends to provide enough information on the different spleen diseases but also present to the reader a wide variety of CT images as a reference.
Findings and procedure details
The embryonic origins of the spleen are obscure,
with most studies describing its origin from mesenchymal cells between the layers of the dorsal mesogastrium,
adjacent to the splanchnic mesodermal plate.
Mesenchymal cells differentiate to form the splenic capsule,
connective tissue and its parenchyma.
The spleen is an organ of the haematologic system and has a role in immune response,
storage of red blood cells and hematopoiesis.
NORMAL SPLEEN
The spleen is wedge-shaped and located in the left upper quadrant protected by the left 9th to...
Conclusion
Radiologists should be familiarized with the various diseases that can affect the spleen and correlate the CT findings with the ones obtained by other imaging techniques,
such as US,
contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
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