Fatal pneumococcal septicemia after splenectomy.

Continued need for pneumococcal prophylaxis after splenectomy.

Two children died from pneumococcal infection five and eight years after splenectomy. Pneumococcal vaccination had not been given to either child. When the infection developed both children were not taking prophylactic penicillin. Vaccination and daily penicillin reduce the incidence of this complication and therefore we strongly recommend that both of these measures are continued indefinitely.

Letter: Fatal pneumococcal septicaemia in an 8-year-old child after splenectomy for trauma.

Fatal pneumococcal sepsis eleven years after distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy for pancreatic cancer.

CONTEXT Overwhelming post-splenectomy sepsis is defined as septicaemia and/or meningitis, usually fulminant, occurring days to several years after removal of the spleen. We report a case of a fulminant pneumococcal sepsis with a fatal outcome, occurring 11 years after distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma. CASE REPORT A 58-year-old woman presented to the emergenc...

Memory B cells and pneumococcal antibody after splenectomy.

Splenectomized patients are susceptible to bloodstream infections with encapsulated bacteria, potentially due to loss of blood filtering but also defective production of anticarbohydrate Ab. Recent studies propose that a lack of Ab is related to reduced numbers of IgM(+) CD27(+) memory B cells found after splenectomy. To test this, we analyzed CD27(+) memory B cell subsets, IgG, and IgM pneumoc...

Pneumococcal septic arthritis after splenectomy in Felty's syndrome.

A patient with Felty's syndrome who developed bilateral knee septic arthritis and septicaemia due to Streptococcus pneumoniae is described. She had had a previous splenectomy for symptomatic thrombocytopenia, having received pneumococcal vaccine before the operation. Measurement of antibody to the 23 vaccine serotypes showed protective concentrations before infection to just two. The infecting ...