J Korean Rheum Assoc.  2002 Dec;9(4):304-307.

Isolated Splenic Infarction in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

• Suh JH
• Park W
• Park BH
• Kim SS
• Lee YH
• Song JS
• Choe WS

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystemic inflammatory autoimmune disease caused by various autoantibodies and immune complexes. Splenic involvement in SLE includes hypersplenism, splenic atrophy, and splenic infarction, which has rarely been reported. We report a case of SLE with isolated splenic infarction. A 20-year-old female patient was admitted complaining of general weakness, malar rash, and easy fatigue. She was diagnosed as having SLE with thrombocytopenia and received steroid treatment. On the 7th hospital day, she complained of severe left upper abdominal pain with sudden-onset. While abdominal ultrasonography showed only mild splenomegaly, abdominal CT and 99mTc-RBC splenic scintigraphy revealed segmental splenic infarction. She had no evidence of additional thrombotic event or hemorrhage. After administration of high dose steroid, abdominal pain subsided and splenic infarction was resolved.

Keyword

Systemic lupus erythematosus; Splenic infarction; Thrombocytopenia

MeSH Terms

Abdominal Pain
Antigen-Antibody Complex
Atrophy
Autoantibodies
Autoimmune Diseases
Exanthema
Fatigue
Female
Hemorrhage
Humans
Hypersplenism
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic*
Radionuclide Imaging
Splenic Infarction*
Splenomegaly
Thrombocytopenia
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Ultrasonography
Young Adult
Antigen-Antibody Complex
Autoantibodies