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At least 559 records · Page 31Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Effect of spleen size on splenectomy outcome. A comparison of open and laparoscopic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) is gaining acceptance as an alternative to open splenectomy (OS). However, splenomegaly presents an obstacle to LS, and massive splenomegaly has been considered a contraindication. Analyses comparing the procedure with the open approach are lacking. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of spleen size on operative and immediate clinical outcome in a series of 105 LS compared with a series of 81 cases surgically treated by an open approach. METHODS: Between January 1990 and November 1998, 186 patients underwent a splenectomy for a wide range of splenic disorders. Of these patients, 105 were treated by laparoscopy (group I, LS; data prospectively recorded) and 81 were treated by an open approach (group II, OS analyzed retrospectively). Patients also were classified into three groups according to spleen weight: group A, <400 g; group B, 400-1000 g; and group C, >1000 g. Age, gender, operative time, perioperative transfusion, spleen weight, conversion rate, mode of spleen retrieval (bag or accessory incision), postoperative analgesia, length of stay, and morbidity were recorded in both main groups. RESULTS: Operative time was significantly longer for LS than for OS. However, LS morbidity, mortality, and postoperative stay were all lower at similar spleen weights. Spleens weighing more than 3,200 g required conversion to open surgery in all cases. When LS outcome for hematologic malignant diagnosis was compared with LS outcome for a benign diagnosis, malignancy did not increase conversion rate, morbidity, and transfusion, even though malignant spleens were larger and accessory incisions were required more frequently. Postoperative hospital stay was significantly longer in malignant than in benign diagnosis (5 +/- 2.4 days vs. 4 +/- 2.3 days; p < 0. 05). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with enlarged spleens, LS is feasible and followed by lower morbidity, transfusion rate, and shorter hospital stay than when the open approach is used. For the treatment of this subset of patients, who usually present with more severe hematologic diseases related to greater morbidity, LS presents potential advantages.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Spleen enlargement following recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor administration for peripheral blood stem cell mobilization.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) is widely used to mobilize peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) for autologous or allogeneic transplants. Such treatment may cause spleen enlargement; exceptionally, spontaneous spleen rupture has been reported. We investigated changes in spleen size during stem cell mobilization. DESIGN AND METHODS: We evaluated spleen size, comparing palpation with ultrasound (US)-evaluated longitudinal diameter and volume, in 13 healthy donors and 22 patients with a hematological malignancy who were undergoing PBSC mobilization with rhG-CSF-including regimens. RESULTS: Intraobserver and interobserver variability of US-calculated spleen volume was very low; the correlation between the volume calculated by US and that measured by 3-dimensional computed tomography was excellent. During mobilization, spleen enlargement was detected by palpation in 17% of subjects, by US-measured longitudinal diameter in 60%, and by US-calculated volume in 91%. The median increase in spleen volume was 300 mL (range, 54-820; p<0.001) in healthy donors and 135 mL (range, 0-413; p=0.004) in the group of patients; the enlargement correlated with white blood cell count elevation (p=0.016) but not with circulating CD34+ cells. One month after the last administration of rhG-CSF, the median decrease was 160 mL (range, 35-800) in healthy donors and 58 mL (range, 0-310) in patients. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: When evaluated by sensitive methods, rhG-CSF caused spleen enlargement in almost all individuals treated. US-calculated volume proved to be an excellent method, much better than longitudinal diameter, for detecting non-palpable splenomegaly induced by rhG-CSF.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Ruptured spleens with expanded marginal zones do not reveal occult B-cell clones.

An indolent variant of splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) lacking massive splenomegaly has been described as an incidental finding in spleens removed for rupture or hypersplenism. We studied traumatically ruptured spleens with expanded marginal zones (MZs) to assess the incidence of occult monoclonal B-cell populations in this setting. Ninety-one ruptured or lacerated spleens removed from 1984 to 1995 were classified as to whether they had expanded MZs (> 12 cell layers thick). When available, paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed tissue from cases with expanded MZs was examined for immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and stained for CD20, CD43, and kappa and lambda light chains. Splenectomies were performed for blunt (70 patients) and penetrating (7 patients) trauma, surgical misadventure (13 patients), or spontaneous rupture (1 patient). There were 58 men and 33 women in our study, ranging in age from 17 to 87 years (mean, 40 yr). Average spleen weight was 183 g (range, 44-505 g). Twenty-seven (30%) of 91 patients had expanded MZs. There were no significant differences in age, sex, spleen weight, or reason for excision between those cases with and without MZ expansion. Germinal centers varied from absent to inactive to floridly reactive. Paraffin blocks were available in 24 cases; the 20 with amplifiable DNA were polyclonal by PCR. Follow-up was available for 25 of the 27 patients with expanded MZs (range, 1-85 mo; median, 6 mo); lymphoma did not develop in anyone, although one patient's spleen was morphologically suspicious for lymphoma, showing involvement of red pulp by MZ-type B-cells; PCR revealed a polyclonal pattern. This patient's 3-year follow-up revealed no evidence of lymphoma. Traumatically ruptured spleens with expanded MZs do not seem to harbor occult B-cell clones, as detected by PCR. Although a few cases of incidentally removed spleens have been reported to contain low-stage SMZL, this seems to be an infrequent event.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1963

PRODUCTION OF IMMUNOLOGICAL TOLERANCE IN MICE AFTER REPEATED INJECTIONS OF DISRUPTED SPLEEN CELLS.

1. Tolerance of male skin isografts has been regularly produced in female mice of the C57B1 strain sublines 1, 4, and 6 during adult life by repeated injection of completely disrupted spleen cells derived from male donors. The tolerant state is long-lasting since such grafts have remained in place more than 9 months. 2. Prolonged survival of homotransplants of skin has regularly been produced in DBA/2 mice during adult life by repeated injections of completely disrupted spleen cells from Balb/C donors. When injections of disrupted spleen cell material are continued over a sufficiently long period, permanent acceptance of the skin homografts may be obtained between these strains. 3. Immunological tolerance across even the strong H-2 histocompatibility barrier was obtained in the neonatal period and during adult life by repeated injection of disrupted spleen cell preparations. The tolerant state has been revealed by both mammary adenocarcinoma and skin homografting across this strong histocompatibility barrier. 4. In contradistinction to the tolerant state produced by injection of intact spleen cells in neonatal animals or during adult life or that produced by parabiotic union, the tolerance produced by repeated injection of disrupted spleen cell preparations cannot be transferred to syngenic neonatal mice with spleen cells of the tolerant animal. 5. The implications of these findings in transplantation biology and in consideration of the basic nature of tolerance are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Antibody formation in the transplanted spleen: a simple method of splenic transplantation in the rat using the cuff technique.

To study whether transplanted spleens produce antibodies or not, a simplified model of spleen transplantation using the cuff technique was developed. The whole spleen with vascular pedicles was implanted in the syngeneic DA (RT1a) rat combination, using the cuff technique applied to the renal artery and vein of the recipient. The functions of the grafted spleen were tested by antibody formation-titers of antibody in the serum and plaque-forming cells in the graft spleen against xenogeneic [BALB/c (H-2d) mouse] antigen. The grafted spleens included a number of plaque-forming cells, as did the host spleen. This report shows direct evidence that vascularized splenic grafts produced antibodies. The technique is described in detail.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Tissue T-lymphocytes in untreated Hodgkin's disease: morphologic and functional correlations in spleens and lymph nodes.

In the present study the number of E-RFC and the in vitro response to PHA and ConA were determined for lymphocytes obtained from spleens and lymph nodes of untreated HD patients. The results were correlated with tissue involvement and with the histological pattern of the disease. Our investigation has revealed: (1) involved spleens and lymph nodes contained a higher percentage of T-lymphocytes than uninvolved tissues. The differences was statistically significant for lymph nodes. (2) A statistically significant correlation was not found between T-lymphocyte numbers and histology. (3) Lymphocytes from uninvolved spleens were significantly more reactive to both mitogens than cells from involved spleens and control non-neoplastic spleens as well. (4) Similar results were obtained with lymph node lymphocytes; however, a significant difference was observed only when cells were stimulated with ConA. (5) The difference in proliferative response between uninvolved and involved tissues was maximally expressed in MC and progressively decreased in NS and LP. (6) T-cell enrichment does not alter the difference between uninvolved and involved spleens. (7) Cells from uninvolved and involved spleens, cultured for 24 hours, maintained unchanged their proliferative capacity. In this study evidence is provided that in HD T-lymphocytes from uninvolved tissues are characterized by an increased reactivity in mitogens, whereas cells from involved tissues are normally responsive.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Spleen findings in generalized mastocytosis. A clinicopathologic study.

BACKGROUND: Little information regarding the morphologic findings of the spleen in generalized mastocytosis (GM) is available and no comprehensive review of the literature on this subject has been published. METHODS: The authors reviewed their records to study the macroscopic and microscopic features of the spleen in 53 patients; the authors also studied these features in 135 patients reported in the literature. Thus, a total of 188 patients with GM were studied. RESULTS: Splenomegaly was noted in 72% of the patients, including 71% of the patients from the authors' files and 73% of the patients reported in the literature. The spleen weight, recorded in 39 of the patients, ranged from 160 g to 2300 g; in 29 (80%) patients the spleen weighed more than 500 g and in 4 (10%) patients, more than 2000 g. However, mast cell (MC) infiltration of the spleen was recorded in only 65 (34%) patients (patients from authors' records, 39%; patients reported in literature, 32%). The following combinations were extremely rare: splenomegaly without evidence of MC infiltration (n = 1); and histologic evidence of MC infiltration in the absence of splenomegaly (n = 2). The histologic findings of the spleen could be assessed in nine of the patients from the authors' files, eight of whom had MC infiltration. In four patients, infiltration was diffuse and confined mainly to the red pulp; in the other four patients, it was more focal and involved mainly the white pulp. Spleen plasmacytosis was found in eight patients, eosinophilia in five, hemosiderosis in seven, and fibrosis in six. Concurrent acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia was diagnosed in four patients, none of whom had the skin lesions of urticaria pigmentosa. CONCLUSIONS: The authors' findings show that (1) splenomegaly is a common finding in GM and often is pronounced; (2) MC infiltration probably is the most important factor in the pathogenesis of splenomegaly in this disease; and (3) two different patterns of MC infiltration (diffuse and focal) can be identified in GM.

Humans↗
PubMed1976

The human spleen as revealed by scanning electron microscopy.

The three-dimensional world of the spleen was explored by scanning electron microscopy on both arterially perfused and nonperfused specimens, as well as on plastic corrosion casts of splenic vasculatures. Of 25 spleens studied, 18 were examples of hypersplenism. These were contrasted to 7 essentially normal spleens taken from children being staged for treatment of Hodgkin's disease whose spleens proved to be uninvolved in the pathologic process. Splenic sinuses in all 25 spleens were typified by a degree of porosity. RBC were caught in the act of entering sinuses from splenic cords. These sinus windows thus represent one end of an "open" circulation pathway. In casts of microvasculature, direct arteriovenous connections were demonstrated, thus establishing an anatomical basis for an often disputed "closed" circulation pathway. Spleens from 7 patients with hereditary spherocytosis had a super abundance of red pulp. Splenic cords were thickened and crowded with spherocytes, many of which presented slightly wrinkled membranes, as were also noted on the peripheral blood RBC. It is possible that these membrane features are unique for HS and reflect the intrinsic membrane abnormality in protein composition. The 7 spleens from chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura had white pulp as the predominant region. Germinal centers were frequent. Lymphocytes and plasma cells with well-developed microvilli were suggestive that release of antiplatelet antibody might be occurring in white pulp. Platelets were especially notable in peripheral white pulp and marginal zones. Platelet clumps were observed, generally adjacent to spleenic macrophages.

Anemia, Sickle Cell↗
PubMed1983

Abnormalities of the spleen and liver in patients with hemophilia.

Previous studies have demonstrated functional and histologic abnormalities of the liver, and, more recently, splenomegaly in patients with hemophilia. Since these observations usually were derived from hemophiliacs who had received intensive replacement therapy, the question was posed as to whether the frequency of splenic and hepatic abnormalities was secondary to the amount of therapy utilized. In this study, a variety of tests were employed to evaluate spleen and liver size and function to determine if abnormalities in these organs correlated with the intensity of the transfusion program. The study group was comprised of 25 hemophiliacs (mean factor replacement-18,361 U/year; median factor replacement-12,920 U/year). Over 70% of our patients had elevations of aspartate and alanine aminotransferase. Immunoglobulin and complement levels were normal in most subjects. Ninety-six percent had evidence of exposure to hepatitis B virus. Liver-spleen imaging suggested significant hepatic abnormalities in most of the patients as evidenced by inhomogeneity of tracer uptake in the liver in 33% and relatively increased colloid uptake in the spleen in 90%. Splenomegaly (palpable spleen or enlargement on liver-spleen imaging) was detected in 40% of our patients, and tended to occur in the more frequently transfused patients. These findings indicate that significant abnormalities of the spleen and liver can occur in hemophiliacs who have received moderate amounts of replacement therapy and that liver-spleen imaging may be a useful method for monitoring the development of hepatic and splenic abnormalities.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Sonographic assessment of normal spleen volume.

Thirty-two morphologically normal spleens from adult corpses were excised and immersed into a graduated water tank and the water volume displaced was considered as the actual spleen volume. After that, the splenic maximal height, width, and breadth were determined by a pachimeter. All the reference points were marked with a metal clip. Utilizing the metal clip references ultrasound maximal height, width, and breadth were determined. It was assumed that the ultrasound spleen volume was the result of the multiplication of the three ultrasonographic measurements previously obtained. There was no significant difference between pachimeter and ultrasound determinations. The mean actual spleen volume was 147.5 cm3 (SD = 81.46). The mean ultrasound spleen volume was 283.8 cm3 (SD = 168.27). A roughly linear correlation between actual spleen volume (y) and ultrasound spleen volume (x) was found, y = 14.23 + 0.469 x (R2 = 0.94, P < 0.01).

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Functional development of the interacting cells in the immune response. III. Role of the neonatal spleen.

Neonatal splenectomy and congenital absence of the spleen were shown to be associated with lack of primary IgM antibody synthesis, deficient bone marrow-thymus cell synergism. altered mitogen responsiveness and depressed homing patterns of thymocytes to the spleen. Using congenitally asplenic animals, altered B-T cell cooperation was manifest at the T cell but not B cell level. This correlated with the ability of thymus cells from either congenitally asplenic or neonatally splenectomized (NSx) animals to respond to the B cell mitogen lipopolysaccharide although there were no detectable Ig=ells present. To determine the role played by the spleen in the development of T cell function, NSx animals were given either irradiated or normal spleen grafts. Both irradiated and unirradiated grafts restored normal B-T cooperation and normal mitogenic responses of thymus cells. However, neither type of spleen graft was successful in restoring normal homing patterns to the spleen. It is concluded that the splenic microenvironment influences T cell maturation very early in life and that only some of the effects attributable to the absence of the spleen can be reversed by the reintroduction of this tissue as a graft.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Indomethacin enhancement of spleen-cell responsiveness to mitogen stimulation in tumorous mice.

Spleen cells removed from C57Bl/6J mice bearing a methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma (MC-16) demonstrate suppressed responsiveness of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced mitogenesis as compared to non-tumorous mice. A similar depression of PHA-induced mitogenesis was observed with spleen cells from C3H/HeJ mice bearing syngeneic mammary adenocarcinomas (C3HBA). The administration of indomethacin, a non-competitive irreversible prostaglandin (Pg) synthesis inhibitor, (75 or 100 mug/mouse, IP) on an alternate day basis to groups of tumor-bearing mice of both strains, significantly enhanced immune cell responsiveness to mitogenic stimulation. The addition of indomethacin (10 mug/ml) to cultures of spleen cells from these tumor-bearing mice, as well as to DBA/1J mice bearing the Cloudman S-91 melanoma, enhanced spleen-cell responsiveness to mitogen-induced DNA synthesis by as much as 156%. Indomethacin administration in vivo or in vitro had no significant effect on mitogen-induced DNA synthesis of spleen cells from non-tumor-bearing animals. It is hypothesized that tumors, or tumor-cell antigens, increase Pg production of a population of spleen cells, and that the increased Pg content of the spleen may be important in controlling immune responsiveness in mice.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Hemopoiesis in spleen and bone marrow cultures.

Long-term cultures established from spleen cells were compared to those established from bone marrow cells for their ability to maintain hemopoiesis as measured by the presence of hemopoietic progenitor cells (in vitro CFU) and multipotent stem cells (CFU-S). The frequency of both in vitro CFU and CFU-S increased dramatically during the first 2 weeks in the spleen cultures. Following this early peak of activity, the number of progenitors and stem cells declined to undetectable levels by week 6 of culture. During this short phase of hemopoiesis, large amounts of GM-CSF could be detected in the supernatant of the spleen cultures. In contrast, bone marrow cultures did not share this early peak of hemopoiesis; however, they maintained activity for much longer periods of time than did the spleen cultures. When spleen stem cells were seeded onto functional bone marrow adherent cells, spleen-derived in vitro CFU were maintained well beyond week 6 of culture. Spleen cultures established from athymic nu/nu mice showed a greatly reduced ability to support hemopoiesis while those from S1/S1d mice maintained GM-CFU as well as cultures from normal mice.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Wandering spleen--the challenge of ultrasound diagnosis: report of 7 cases.

PURPOSE: To summarize our experience with sonographic diagnosis of wandering spleen in children and assess for the typical sonographic findings of wandering spleen, complications, and possible diagnostic pitfalls. METHODS: We identified all pediatric patients from 1998-2003 with a surgically confirmed diagnosis of wandering spleen. All sonographic examinations were reviewed for splenic position, size, echotexture, and parenchymal blood flow. RESULTS: Seven children were identified with a mean age of 9.7 years (range 4.2-15.3 years). All presented with abdominal pain. Abdominal sonography, performed in all children demonstrated a low position of the spleen (n = 6), splenomegaly (n = 4), and absence of parenchymal flow in the three patients with splenic torsion and infarction. The diagnosis was made preoperatively via sonography in five children; three required repeated hospital admissions before the correct diagnosis was established. Complications occurred in five patients (gastric obstruction [n = 1], splenic infarction [n = 3], and recurrent pancreatitis [n = 1]). CONCLUSION: The most specific sonographic finding for wandering spleen is low position of the spleen. However, if the spleen regains its normal or near-normal position, the diagnosis may be missed and the condition may recur, and result in complications.

Abdominal Pain↗
PubMed1985

T cell-dependent and -independent stimulation of hamster spleen NK-like cells with concanavalin A.

This study was designed to examine the inducibility and lineage of nonspecifically cytotoxic effector cells in the hamster spleen. Employing a known T cell mitogen, concanavalin A (ConA), and a monoclonal antibody against a recently identified hamster T cell marker (Thy 1.2 homologue), we examined the effector cells induced in spleen by ConA and the role of T cells in regulating this response. Cytotoxicity was measured against uninfected baby hamster kidney cells, cells infected with herpes simplex virus, or a mouse target, SV3T3, in a 16-hr 51Cr release assay. Pretreatment of spleen cells with ConA (2.5-10 micrograms ConA/ml) markedly augmented killing of all targets. Although ConA pretreatment of effector cells enhanced cytotoxicity, pretreatment of targets did not, indicating that ConA is acting at the effector cell level. Supernatants from ConA-stimulated spleen cells also augmented spleen lymphocyte cytotoxicity, suggesting that the ConA effect is mediated by lymphokines (LK). Depletion of Thy 1.2-positive cells from the spleen cells failed to influence augmentation of cytotoxicity by either ConA or ConA-induced LK, indicating that the precursor cells are not T cells. However, depletion of Thy 1.2-positive cells completely eliminated the production of LK in response to ConA, indicating that the factors in LK that augment cytotoxicity are strictly T cell dependent. Whether nonspecific cytotoxic cells induced by ConA in the absence of T cells and by the T cell LK are the same population is not known. None of the cytotoxicity induced from intact or T cell-depleted spleen cells by either ConA or LK expressed the Thy 1.2 homologue. These results suggest that nonspecific cytotoxic lymphocytes of non-T cell lineage in the hamster are regulated via both T cell-dependent and T cell-independent mechanisms.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Microscopy of vascular architecture and arteriovenous communications in the spleen of two odontocetes.

The red pulp of the spleens of the short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and the Pacific bottle-nosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus gilli) (Odontoceti) were examined by light and electron microscopy and found to comprise two venous layers, an inner and an outer. The inner layer is homologous to the intermediate zone (IZ) of primitive-type mammalian spleens and contains sinusoids consisting of endothelial cells and a thin layer of extracellular deposits. Its vascular structure is unclear. The venous vessels of this layer eventually communicate with veins of the perivenous outer layer. The perivenous layer contains veins of various sizes, interstitial elements, and trabeculae. It is filled with blood cells, particularly plasma cells, but no myeloid cells. The perivenous layer (PVL) is homologous to the red pulp of common mammalian spleens but shows signs of involution. The white pulp gives origin to arterial terminals that end in the red pulp, where they communicate directly with the sinusoidal veins producing a closed circulation. The arterial terminals do not show ellipsoids. The presence of an IZ with a closed circulation and the involution of the red pulp makes the spleen of Odeontoceti another example of a mammalian spleen of the primitive type that has been altered by the evolutionary process. Vascular remodelling of the spleen of Odontoceti seems to follow the pattern noted in the spleens of nonmammalian vertebrates.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Noradrenergic sympathetic innervation of the spleen: V. Acute drug-induced depletion of lymphocytes in the target fields of innervation results in redistribution of noradrenergic fibers but maintenance of compartmentation.

Sympathetic noradrenergic fibers follow the vasculature into the white pulp of the spleen and branch from the periarteriolar plexuses into T lymphocyte zones. These lymphocytes, reported to express adrenergic receptors, are contacted directly by norepinephrine (NE) terminals and are putative targets of the locally released NE. Although this splenic innervation has been studied extensively, the functional interdependence of the lymphocytes and the sympathetic innervation is not well understood. To assess the effect of acute lymphocyte loss on the splenic innervation, T and B lymphocytes were depleted through treatment with cyclophosphamide (CY) or hydrocortisone acetate (HC). Despite reductions in spleen weight and cellularity, the total NE content (pmol) per spleen did not change. However, the NE concentration increased in the treated spleens. Although the general compartmental organization of the noradrenergic fibers in the treated spleens was similar to that of controls, the NE fibers redistributed and increased in density around the smaller central arteries in lymphocyte depleted spleens. The accommodation of these NE fibers to the changing environment of the white pulp suggests that the innervation to the spleen remains chemically stable despite a large disruption to the normal splenic milieu, but is capable of plasticity in the face of a shrinking white pulp.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Debridement and replantation of the spleen with microsurgical restoration of blood flow.

Splenectomy continues to be the most commonly chosen method of management of traumatic injury to the spleen. However, patients of all age groups who have undergone splenectomy have significant impairment of immune functions as demonstrated by decreased production of IGM, tufsin, and properdin. This immune deficiency has been clinically manifested by an increased incidence of postsplenectomy pneumonia and sepsis which is reduced but not eliminated by the use of pneumococcal vaccine and/or prophylactic antibiotics. This paper presents the results of a study of the feasibility of repair and replantation of injured spleens using microsurgical techniques. Twenty cats had their spleens removed, finger-fractured, and debrided. The cats were then assigned to one of four groups. Group I had the entire spleen replanted but only 75% of the parenchyma revascularized. Group II had 75% of the parenchyma revascularized and replanted. Group III had 50% revascularized and replanted, and Group IV 25% revascularized and replanted. Patency of the anastomoses was assessed by postoperative arteriography. Restoration of reticuloendothelial (filter) function was assessed by the use of technetium sulphur colloid scans which showed preservation of reticuloendothelial function of the revascularized segments but absence of function in nonrevascularized segments which had been replanted. Histologic examination of replanted spleens harvested at 8 weeks showed normal architecture of red and white pulp in all areas that had been revascularized. However, in those spleens where the entire spleen had been replanted but only partially revascularized, the nonrevascularized segments were degenerated and atrophic.

Animals↗