[Littoral-cell angioma--a rare differential diagnosis on splenic tumors].

UNLABELLED

HISTORY AND PRE-ADMISSION FINDINGS: Routine abdominal sonography of a 51-year-old man 6 years after removal of the right testis and radiotherapy for a seminoma revealed a 3 cm mass within the spleen.

INVESTIGATIONS

All biochemical tests were normal. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the tumour which had not been present on the CT before the seminoma had been treated. No other space-occupying lesions were found in the thorax and abdomen.

TREATMENT AND COURSE

A splenectomy was performed because a metachronous metastasis of the seminoma was suspected. The operation and subsequent course were uneventful. At operation the tumour had been diagnosed as an haemangioma because of its gross appearance, but histological and immunohistochemical examination revealed a littoral cell angioma.

CONCLUSION

The littoral cell angioma is a benign vascular lesion in the red pulp of the spleen, which may be caused by different stimuli such as chronic infection or tumours. This case illustrates, that this tumour should be considered in the differential diagnosis of an unclear neoplasm in the spleen.