Spleen: Trauma, vascular, and interventional radiology

Abstract

The spleen is a highly vascular organ, appropriate for its active roles in immunosurveillance and hematopoiesis. Knowledge of the normal splenic vascular anatomy is important for understanding the imaging characteristics of the spleen and its vascular pathology, including splenomegaly, splenic infarcts, splenic vein thrombosis, and splenic artery aneurysms. Imaging of the spleen plays a central role in evaluating the trauma patient, as the spleen is the solid organ most frequently injured in blunt abdominal trauma. Identifying and grading splenic injury, including identifying and characterizing hematomas, lacerations, and vascular injuries carries utmost clinical importance for management. Vascular and nonvascular interventions related to the spleen also play an important role in varied clinical situations, including trauma, hypersplenism, biopsy of unknown splenic lesions, and percutaneous drainage of splenic abscesses.