Acute nontraumatic splenic infarctions at a tertiary-care center: causes and predisposing factors in 123 patients

Acute splenic infarcts classically present with left upper quadrant pain, but may be discovered incidentally in many hospitalized patients with otherwise vague complaints. The purpose of our study was to document causes or predisposing conditions in patients found to have acute splenic infarctions on imaging. Following IRB approval, a retrospective review of an imaging database from May 2008 to May 2015 was performed for cases of acute splenic infarctions. The electronic medical record was then reviewed for potential predisposing factors or known causes. Specific note was made of cases with active malignancy, vascular disorders, or inflammatory conditions with an increased risk of vasculopathy. Echocardiogram and electrocardiogram results were reviewed when available. One hundred twenty-three patients with acute splenic infarcts were identified, 65 female and 58 male. The average age was 57 years (range of 22 to 88). Active malignancy was present in 40 patients or 33 %. The most common malignancy in patient with nontraumatic splenic infarctions was pancreatic cancer, present in 16 patients (13 %). In these patients, splenic infarction was due to direct invasion of vessels in the splenic hilum. Acute pancreatitis (severe) was directly responsible for splenic infarction in seven additional cases (6 %). Additional visceral infarcts were present in 18 patients (15 %), most commonly concomitant hepatic or renal infarcts. Documented atrial fibrillation was present in 12 patients, but only 2 cases of left-sided cardiac thrombi were seen on CT (1 atrial, and 1 ventricular thrombus). Eight cases of endocarditis with valvular vegetations were documented on echocardiography (7 %). Splenomegaly was present in 32 patients (26 %) with acute splenic infarction. In patients with nontraumatic splenic infarctions, there appears to be a relatively high association with active malignancy (up to a third of patients). Pancreatic disorders, malignant and inflammatory, also appear to be an important cause of splenic infarction, presumably due to the close proximity of the pancreas to the splenic vessels.