[Spontaneous splenic rupture in metastatic malignant melanoma]

Spontaneous splenic rupture is a rare cause of non-traumatic haemorrhage and is of infectious origin in most instances. We present a patient under treatment for abdominal manifestations of metastatic malignant melanoma who developed signs of haemorrhagic shock and where, upon emergency laparotomy, metastases were found to have caused rupture of the spleen. The patient recovered after splenectomy and was continued on systemic chemoimmunotherapy. One year after the incident he died of cerebral metastases.