Two cases of calcified cysts of the spleen

Presented in this paper are two cases of calcified cyst of the spleen. The first case is an epidermoid cyst of a 20-year-old male who visited our hospital because of vomiting and epigastric discomfort. The second case is a pseudocyst of a 38-year-old male who was referred to our hospital for evaluation of an abdominal mass. Both patients had no history of abdominal trauma. Linear or curvelinear calcification was revealed in the left epigastric region in the plain X-ray films of the abdomen. Ultrasonography, computed tomography and selective celiac angiography led to the diagnosis of a cyst of the spleen, and surgical operations were performed because the cysts were large and symptomatic. Splenic cyst is a relatively rare disease. However, the cases including asymptomatic cases with small cyst have been increasing in number with the improvement of diagnostic methods and the common use of ultrasonography and computed tomography. In Japanese literatures, 332 cases had been reported by 1983.