Mansonic schistosomiasis remains a medical-social issue in Northeastern Brazil. In children, surgical treatment includes splenectomy and spleen autoimplantation. This procedure reduces post-splenectomy sepsis. The aim of this study was to analyze the phagocyte rate and the cellular viability of monocytes in patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis, who underwent splenectomy and spleen autoim...

OBJECTIVE To describe profile of 82 children with hereditary spherocytosis diagnosed over a period of 27 years (1985-2011) from a single center. METHODS Retrospective analyses of case records. RESULTS The mean (SD) age at diagnosis was 6.7 (2.8) years; 7 (8.5%) were diagnosed in infancy. Pallor (100%), icterus (67%), undocumented fever (28%), splenomegaly (96%) and hepatomegaly (73%) were t...

Preoperative splenic artery embolization for massive splenomegaly has been shown to reduce intraoperative hemorrhage during splenectomy. We describe a case of tumor lysis syndrome after proximal splenic artery embolization in a patient with advanced mantle cell lymphoma and splenic involvement. The patient presented initially with hyperkalemia two days after embolization that worsened during sp...

The management of older patients with chronic primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is still very challenging because of the fragility of older patients who frequently have severe comorbidities and/or disabilities. Corticosteroid-based first-line therapies fail in most of the cases and patients require a second-line treatment, choosing between rituximab, thrombopoietin-receptor agonists and spl...

INTRODUCTION Splenic abscess (SA) is a rare potentially fatal condition in the paediatric population. It is difficult to diagnose given its non-specific presentation. There are no current guidelines for management of SA in this population but splenic preservation is advantageous given the vital role the spleen plays in immunity. PRESENTATION OF CASE We present a case of a 15-year-old boy with...

Zaccarelli in 1549 reported on splenectomy, but on the same subject in 1 578 Ballonii asked the question 'Is the spleen so necessary for life?'; while the first successful partial splenectomy was carried out by Timothy Clark in 1673, and the first total one in 1678 by Nicholaus Matthias. Splenectomy as the recommended treatment for splenic injury or lesions is firmly rooted in surgical teaching...

Clinical manifestations of hereditary spherocytosis (HS), the most common red blood cell (RBC) membrane disorder, can be abrogated or markedly reduced by splenectomy. However, concerns regarding risks from overwhelming infections after splenectomy have restricted its use, especially in children. This study was designed to determine if partial splenectomy can decrease the hemolytic rate while ma...