Massive and Widely Distributed Splenosis

A 45-year-old man, seropositive for hepatitis C, was examined because his liver was palpable well below the costal margin. A CT examination revealed multiple nodules within the liver and also several sites of ectopic tissue. The patient had a splenectomy 25 years before. A radiocolloid study showed uptake, consistent with splenosis, in the thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and possibly the left arm. The magnitude of the ectopic tissue, and its multiple locations, indicated the ability of splenic cells to grow in a variety of body sites.