Epidermoid cyst of the spleen with rupture and inflammation.

Abstract

CYSTS of the spleen are classified as parasitic or nonparasitic. The nonparasitic cysts are divided into true cysts and pseudocysts, depending upon whether an epithelial or mesothelial lining exists. The true epidermoid cysts appear to be rare and the textbooks of pathology and surgery deal very briefly with this entity. In the past several years isolated reports of true epidermoid cysts of the spleen have appeared in the English literature, with accounts of their clinical manifestations, diagnostic aspects, and other features. The reports so far have been dealing with single cases and no institution seems to have had the opportunity of observing several of them. The present case is unusual in that the patient presented with an acute condition of the abdomen secondary to rupture and severe inflammatory reaction, a feature uncommon for epidermoid cysts of the spleen whose symptoms are usually vague and insidious in character. Report of a