The 'true' splenic wanderer

Abstract

Wandering spleen is an unusual entity and remains an elusive clinical diagnosis. Among the modern imaging modalities including computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear scans and ultrasonography, the latter appears to be the least invasive and the most effective in reaching a definitive diagnosis. A patient with 'true' wandering spleen who presented with chronic, intermittent abdominal pain, weight loss and a right lower quadrant mass that was interpreted as a pelvic lymphoma or a primary pelvic malignancy on compared abdominal tomography (CAT) scan is presented. Abdominal ultrasonography conducted a few weeks before the CAT scan showed a normal splenic shadow in the left upper abdomen.