[Splenectomy in hairy cell leukemia]

Splenectomy was performed in five patients with hairy cell leukemia at the Surgical Department of the Hospital with Policlinic, Bezrucova, Bratislava, over the years 1982-1987. One of the patients died 3 years after operation due to progression of the disease, the other four patients have been surviving for 2-7 years following surgery without relapse of the disease. The presented results, compared with the world literature, justify splenectomy to be advocated as the primary therapeutic procedure in hairy cell leukemia.