[Spontaneous rupture of the spleen under ticlopidine. Apropos of two cases]

We observed two cases of spontaneous rupture of an apparently healthy spleen in two patients who were taking ticlopidine as anti-platelet aggregation treatment. The notion that the spleen was apparently healthy was based on well-defined criteria, essential for the imputability of the spontaneous lesions. In general drug-induced spontaneous ruptures of the spleen have been reported for anticoagulants but no case due to antiplatelet aggregation has been reported to our knowledge. The analysis of these two cases and a review of the recent literature suggests that ticlopidine was the causal agent in these two cases of splenic rupture.