Abstract
Object: The significance of splenectomy was investigated in seven cases of splenectomy for splenomegaly due to lymphoid malignancy. Cases included one NK/T cell lymphoma, one hairy cell leukemia (HCL), two Hodgkin's diseases, and three non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) . The NK/T cell lymphoma case died one month after splenectomy. The HCL case and one case of Hodgkin's disease localized in the spleen survived without chemotherapy for two and ten years after splenectomy, respectively. Another Hodgkin's disease case and one NHL patient died because of disease recurrence nine and eighteen postoperative months, respectively. Two other NHL cases survived with chemotherapy for ten and twenty-three postoperative months, respectively. Splenectomy not only improved bulk symptoms or cytopenias for splenomegaly, but it also cured HCL and lymphoid malignancy localized in the spleen. However, splenectomy could lead to operative death in severe cases. Therefore, it is concluded that splenectomy should be done in cases of splenomegaly due to lymphoid malignancy with information about histological diagnosis and future prognosis.
