Faculty Collaboration Database

Ruptured spleens with expanded marginal zones do not reveal occult B-cell clones. Mod Pathol 1997 Dec;10(12):1214-20

Date

01/22/1998

Pubmed ID

9436966

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0344404357 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   11 Citations

Abstract

An indolent variant of splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) lacking massive splenomegaly has been described as an incidental finding in spleens removed for rupture or hypersplenism. We studied traumatically ruptured spleens with expanded marginal zones (MZs) to assess the incidence of occult monoclonal B-cell populations in this setting. Ninety-one ruptured or lacerated spleens removed from 1984 to 1995 were classified as to whether they had expanded MZs (> 12 cell layers thick). When available, paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed tissue from cases with expanded MZs was examined for immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and stained for CD20, CD43, and kappa and lambda light chains. Splenectomies were performed for blunt (70 patients) and penetrating (7 patients) trauma, surgical misadventure (13 patients), or spontaneous rupture (1 patient). There were 58 men and 33 women in our study, ranging in age from 17 to 87 years (mean, 40 yr). Average spleen weight was 183 g (range, 44-505 g). Twenty-seven (30%) of 91 patients had expanded MZs. There were no significant differences in age, sex, spleen weight, or reason for excision between those cases with and without MZ expansion. Germinal centers varied from absent to inactive to floridly reactive. Paraffin blocks were available in 24 cases; the 20 with amplifiable DNA were polyclonal by PCR. Follow-up was available for 25 of the 27 patients with expanded MZs (range, 1-85 mo; median, 6 mo); lymphoma did not develop in anyone, although one patient's spleen was morphologically suspicious for lymphoma, showing involvement of red pulp by MZ-type B-cells; PCR revealed a polyclonal pattern. This patient's 3-year follow-up revealed no evidence of lymphoma. Traumatically ruptured spleens with expanded MZs do not seem to harbor occult B-cell clones, as detected by PCR. Although a few cases of incidentally removed spleens have been reported to contain low-stage SMZL, this seems to be an infrequent event.

Author List

Kroft SH, Singleton TP, Dahiya M, Ross CW, Schnitzer B, Hsi ED

Author

Steven Howard Kroft MD Chair, Professor in the Pathology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Antigens, CD
Antigens, CD20
B-Lymphocytes
Clone Cells
Female
Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte, Heavy Chain
Humans
Hyperplasia
Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains
Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains
Immunohistochemistry
Leukosialin
Male
Middle Aged
Organ Size
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Sialoglycoproteins
Splenic Rupture