Spontaneous rupture of the spleen: an unusual presenting feature in Hodgkin's lymphoma

"Spontaneous" (pathologic) rupture of the spleen is a rare phenomenon in lymphomas, 11 cases appearing in the English language literature. We describe the second case of Hodgkin's disease in which the initial presentation was spontaneous splenic rupture. The occurrence of splenic rupture in lymphomas seems to carry a bad prognosis since it is likely to reflect stage IV disease whether manifest before the rupture or soon thereafter.