[Echography in tumor pathology of the spleen: limitations and perspectives]

The authors review the symptomatology of splenic tumor pathologies in connection with 93 personal observations (71 non-Hodgkin lymphomas, 12 Hodgkin's disease, 6 metastases, 3 epidermoid cysts, 1 angioma). Nodular forms were observed in 31.2% of the cases reviewed. In most cases of lymphoma, the ultrasonographic finding was a homogeneous splenomegaly. The possibility of false negatives for splenic involvement in lymphomas when spleen volume is normal has led certain authors to suggest fine needle puncture of the spleen under ultrasonographic guidance. Such procedures are unnecessary if ultrasonography has detected an obvious lesion such as multinodular involvement of homogeneous splenomegaly. However, this moderately traumatic technique can provide valuable information until such time as ultrasonic tissue characterization has proven itself in vivo.