ASPLENIA: REPORT OF A CASE DIAGNOSED ANTEMORTEM ON THE BASIS OF ROENTGENOGRAMS.

Abstract

Over 100 cases of congenital absence of the spleen in association with cardiac abnormalities, varying degrees of visceral symmetry, and situs inversus have been reported. The first account was made by Martin in 1826, but only recently has this combination of anomalies been recognized as a syndrome. Ivemark (4) designated it “asplenia, a teratologic syndrome of visceral symmetry.” It is the purpose of this communication to report a case diagnosed antemortem on the basis of roentgenograms. A review of the mother's history revealed multiple x-ray exposures to the abdomen during the first trimester of pregnancy. The etiology and pathogenesis of asplenia are unknown; however, the explanation for this combination of abnormalities must lie in the closely related embryologic development of the structures involved. At an ovulation age of from twenty to thirty-six days (2–4, 6) the splenic anlage forms from the dorsal mesogastrium; the atrioventricular cushion develops from the cardiac reticulum; the conotruncus se...