Laparoscopic surgical treatment of hepatic splenosis. A case report

Isolated hepatic splenosis is a rare but possible condition in abdominal surgery. At radiological imaging liver splenosis mimics malignant or pathological condition of the liver; obtaining a certain diagnosis prior to surgery is difficult. For this reason, the patients undergo to unnecessary operation, with a laparotomy access. We report a case of suspicious liver mass removed laparoscopically and revealed as hepatic splenosis.

A 31 years old man patient was admitted to our Institution because of upper chronic abdominal pain. Thirteen years before the recovery the patient was operated of splenectomy with laparotomic incision. Computerized Tomography and Magnetic Resonance demonstrated the presence of suspicious hepatic mass in the III segment.

The mass has been radically excised with laparoscopic approach. Postoperative stay was good and patient was discharged seven day after the operation. At histological examination ectopic splenic tissue on liver surface was found (socalled splenosis).

Hepatic splenosis is not a rare condition and should be considered with the differential diagnosis especially in patients who had previous splenectomy and absence of liver cirrhosis. Laparoscopic exploration should always be preferred for the diagnosis of uncertain liver mass. Few works report laparoscopic excision for liver splenosis. For experience at our Institution laparoscopic procedure has an important role to get the diagnosis and it is also a feasible approach for minimally invasive resection.

Laparoscopy, Liver, Splenosis.