[Thoracic splenosis]

Thoracic splenosis is a rare clinical condition consisting in the heterotopic autotransplantation of pieces of splenic tissue into the chest, following a previous trauma, with spleen and diaphragm laceration. In this paper, the authors report the clinical case of a thoracic splenosis in a 26 years old male, who had suffered a severe thoraco-abdominal trauma in childhood, leading to an emergency splenectomy. The patient, with the previous diagnosis of malignancy, namely pleural fibrotic tumors, underwent surgical management for removal of some nodular tumors of the pleura. Pathological studies confirmed the diagnosis of thoracic splenosis. The clinical diagnosis of thoracic splenosis should be suspicious facing asymptomatic patients, with a history of previous thoraco-abdominal trauma and nodular peripheral tumors in the chest x-rays.