ASPLENIA

Course overview

ASPLENIA MEANS THE ABSENCE OF A SPLEEN. ASPLENIA CAN OCCUR IN A VARIETY OF CLINICAL SETTINGS, AND IT CAN REFER TO AN ANATOMIC ABSENCE OF THE SPLEEN OR FUNCTIONAL ASPLENIA SECONDARY TO A VARIETY OF DISEASE STATES. THE SPLEEN IS ONE OF THE PRIMARY EXTRAMEDULLARY LYMPHOID ORGANS. IT IS LOCATED IN THE LEFT UPPER QUADRANT OF THE ABDOMEN. NORMALLY, THE SPLEEN IS NOT PALPABLE ON PHYSICAL EXAM AND MEASURES ON AVERAGE 10.65 BY 5.16 CM. NORMAL SPLEEN SIZE CAN VARY BY GENDER AND RACE. FOR EXAMPLE, MEN ON AVERAGE HAVE LARGER SPLEENS THAN FEMALES, AND WHITES, ON AVERAGE, TEND TO HAVE LARGER SPLEENS COMPARED TO AFRICAN AMERICAN INDIVIDUALS. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH ASPLENIA AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN THE MANAGEMENT OF THESE PATIENTS.