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. 2022 Jun 29;9(6):003370.
doi: 10.12890/2022_003370. eCollection 2022.

Splenic Infarctions in Polycythaemia Vera are Not Always a Catastrophe

ELMustafa Abdalla  1 , Muzamil Musa  1 , Motwakil Musa  1 , Ahmed Hatem  1 , Abdalla Fadul  1 , Ashraf Oe Ahmed  1
Affiliations

Splenic Infarctions in Polycythaemia Vera are Not Always a Catastrophe

ELMustafa Abdalla et al. Eur J Case Rep Intern Med. .

Abstract

Splenic infarction can occur as an infrequent thrombotic manifestation in polycythaemia vera (PV) and is usually catastrophic. We describe the case of a middle-aged woman who was diagnosed with PV 3 months before she presented to the emergency department with acute limb ischaemia. A splenic infarction detected on diagnostic imaging during her hospital stay was treated conservatively with modification of her hydroxyurea dose along with pain management, without the need for surgery.

Learning points: Multiple splenic infarctions are an uncommon presentation in polycythaemia vera.Patients can present with vague abdominal pain, so a high index of suspicion is necessary and diagnosis is usually radiological.Splenic infarction in polycythaemia patients can be treated successfully with hydroxyurea and pain management with aspirin.

Keywords: PV; infarction; polycythemia vera; spleen.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Abdominal ultrasonography (left) showing a heterogeneous echotexture with multiple hypoechoic lesions (arrows) in the spleen with no obvious internal vascularity seen on the Doppler image (right)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Transverse (left) and coronal views (right) of abdominal CT scans depicting multiple variably sized hypodense non-enhancing lesions within the spleen (arrows), favouring splenic infarction
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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