Calcified splenic cyst; report of a case.

Splenic cysts, in general, are Infrequently encountered in medical practice. Among these, calcified cysts are extremely rare. Harmer and Chalmers,’ in a review of the literature to 1946, reported a total of 163 splenic cysts of all types. Our comprehensive review of medical publications revealed only 31 cases of calcified splenic cyst on record to date : Fowler2 reported 7 cases ; Foldes,3 Gatersleben,4 Baumann and Kohnstamm,5 Segelman,’3 Scotson,7 Arenas and Gonl,8 Goinard,9 Schawan,’#{176} Dellannoy et al,” Romano et al,’2 Bachman,’3 Zdansky,’4 Nosiglia,’5 Elkeles and James,’6 Gallagher and Mossberger,’7 Culver et al,’8 Snoke,’9 Neidhart,,2#{176} Duggan,2’ and Jameson and Smith22 reported one each; Kierluf23 reported four additional cases. We are presenting what we believe to be the thirty-second reported Instance of this clinical finding. Many of the calcified splenIc cysts have been discovered as a result of investigation of pressure symptoms of an expanding lesion in the left upper quadrant. Frequently, a history of parasitic infestation or of localized trauma called attention to possible splenic pathology. Exploratory laparotomy, as a rule, established the correct diagnosis. Some of the cases have been observed as incidental findings on radiologic examination and the etiologic background investigated in retrospect. Many of these, as In the case we are citing, yielded no etiologic clues.