Splenic cysts in children

Splenic cysts were found, incidentally, in eight children during the past nine years (1987-1995) in Taipei Municipal Women's and Children's Hospital. Five of the children were boys and three were girls. The age at diagnosis ranged from 8 to 15 years. Evidence of possible splenic cyst development was found initially by ultrasonography; six patients received further evaluation with computerized tomography (CT); one patient received radionuclide scanning. The cysts ranged from 2 cm to 14 cm in diameter. Four of the patients received surgical treatment (three partial splenectomy and one total splenectomy) because of huge splenic cysts (diameter > 10 cm). Subsequent pathological examination revealed that all cysts had epithelial cell lining in the cyst wall, meaning they were all congenital in origin. The remaining four cases were followed up at the Out-patient Clinic here. All cases had a benign clinical course.