Splenomegaly (Enlargement of the Spleen): Or something else? Differential Diagnosis

Respiratory System (J00-J99).

  • Berylliosis – disease caused by exposure to beryllium compounds; may manifest in diverse organs.

Blood, hematopoietic organs – immune system (D50-D90).

  • Iron deficiency anemia – form of anemia caused by iron deficiency.
  • Hemoglobinopathies – group of genetic diseases caused by disorders in the synthesis of hemoglobin (blood pigment).
  • Hemolytic anemia – form of anemia in which there is dissolution of blood cells.
  • Idiopathic splenomegaly – splenomegaly with no apparent cause.
  • Immune neutropenia – reduction of granulocytes (immune defense cells) in the blood.
  • Immune thrombocytopenia – autoimmune disease associated with a decrease in the number of platelets in the blood.
  • Splenic abscess – encapsulated collection of pus in the spleen.
  • Splenic cyst – encapsulated cavity in the spleen.
  • Pernicious anemia (synonym: Biermer’s disease) – form of anemia (anemia) based on a deficiency of vitamin B12.
  • Sarcoidosis (synonyms: Boeck’s disease; Schaumann-Besnier’s disease) – systemic disease of connective tissue with granuloma formation (skin, lungs and lymph nodes).
  • Sickle cell anemia (med.: Drepanocytosis; also sickle cell anemia, sickle cell anemia) – genetic disease with autosomal recessive inheritance, which affects the erythrocytes (red blood cells); it belongs to the group of hemoglobinopathies (disorders of hemoglobin; formation of an irregular hemoglobin, the so-called sickle cell hemoglobin, HbS).
  • Spherocytosis (spherocytosis).
  • Thalassemia – autosomal recessive hereditary synthesis disorder of the alpha or beta chains of the protein portion (globin) in hemoglobin (hemoglobinopathy/diseases resulting from impaired formation of hemoglobin).
    • Α-Thalassemia (HbH disease, hydrops fetalis/generalized fluid accumulation); incidence: mostly in Southeast Asians.
    • Β-Thalassemia: most common monogenetic disorder worldwide; incidence: People from Mediterranean countries, Middle East, Afghanistan, India and Southeast Asia.

Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases (E00-E90).

  • Amyloidosis – extracellular (“outside the cell”) deposits of amyloids (degradation-resistant proteins) that can lead to cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease), neuropathy (peripheral nervous system disease), and hepatomegaly (liver enlargement), among other conditions.
  • Hurler syndrome (Hurler disease) – genetic disease with autosomal recessive inheritance; most severe course of lysosomal storage disease mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I), which manifests in infancy; characterized by recurrent (recurring) otitis (ear infection), gibbus (pointed hump of the spine), hip dysplasia, umbilical and inguinal hernias (hernia of the groin); obstructive and restrictive respiratory symptoms, joint contractures, and joint stiffness
  • Hyperthyroidism (hyperthyroidism).
  • Gaucher’s disease – hereditary disease that leads to the storage of sphingomyelin in various body tissues (sphingolipidosis).
  • Niemann-Pick disease (synonyms: Niemann-Pick disease, Niemann-Pick syndrome or sphingomyelin lipidosis) – genetic disease with autosomal recessive inheritance; belongs to the group of sphingolipidoses, which in turn are classified as lysosomal storage diseases; main symptoms of Niemann-Pick disease type A are hepatosplenomegaly (liver and spleen enlargement) and psychomotor decline; in type B, no cerebral symptoms are observed.
  • Storage diseases (thesaurismoses) – such as amyloidosis, glycogenosis, hemochromatosis (iron storage disease), lipoidosis, Gaucher disease, Krabbe disease, mucopolysaccharidosis, etc.
  • Tangier disease – very rare genetic defect proteinemia, which leads to disorders of lipid metabolism.

Cardiovascular system (I00-I99).

  • Splenic artery aneurysm – bulge in the vessel wall.
  • Heart failure (cardiac insufficiency; in this case, right heart failure/right heart failure).
  • Splenic vein occlusion
  • Obstruction (occlusion) of vessels such as the portal vein (→ portal hypertension/portal vein hypertension) or the hepatic vein
  • Subacute bacterial endocarditis (endocarditis of the heart).

Infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99).

  • Bacterial infections, unspecified
  • Schistosomiasis – worm disease (tropical infectious disease) caused by trematodes (sucking worms) of the genus Schistosoma (couple flukes).
  • Echinococcosis – infectious disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus (dog tapeworm) or multilocularis (fox tapeworm).
  • Ehrlichiosis – infectious disease caused by the bacterial genus Ehrlichia.
  • Histoplasmosis – fungal disease caused by Histoplasma capsulatum.
  • HIV infection
  • Infection with the cytomegalovirus (cytomegaly)
  • Infectious mononucleosis (synonyms: Pfeiffer’s glandular fever, infectious mononucleosis, mononucleosis infectiosa, monocyte angina, Pfeiffer’s disease or kissing disease (English : kissing disease) – acute disease of the lymphatic system caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).
  • Leishmaniasis – tropical infectious disease caused by Leishmania.
  • Malaria – infectious disease transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito.
  • Rubella infection
  • Sepsis (blood poisoning)
  • Syphilis (Lues) – sexually transmitted infectious disease.
  • Toxoplasmosis – infectious disease transmitted by the protozoan genus Toxoplasma.
  • Trypanosome infection – infectious disease caused by protozoa.
  • Tuberculosis (consumption)
  • Viral hepatitis (inflammation of the liver)

Liver, gallbladder, and bile ducts-pancreas (pancreas) (K70-K77; K80-K87).

  • Banti syndrome – disease associated with hepatomegaly and splenomegaly (enlargement of the liver and spleen); jaundice (jaundice) and ascites (abdominal dropsy).
  • Liver cirrhosis (liver shrinkage) – connective tissue remodeling of the liver, leading to functional impairment.
  • Pancreatic cyst – formation of a tissue cavity in the pancreas.
  • Portal hypertension – increase in blood pressure in the portal vein.
  • Change in the left lobe of the liver, unspecified

Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99).

Neoplasms – tumor diseases (C00-D48).

  • Acute leukemia (blood cancer)
  • Angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy – malignant (malignant) disease that is one of the non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas.
  • Angiosarcoma – malignant neoplasm originating from the vessels.
  • Malignant neoplasm of the spleen, unspecified.
  • Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
  • Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)
  • Eosinophilic granuloma – disease belonging to the histiocytosis X group.
  • Benign neoplasms such as splenic hemangiomas, splenic fibromas or splenic lymphangiomas.
  • Hamartomas of the spleen – tumors caused by maldevelopment of the tissue.
  • Histiocytosis-X – group of systemic diseases that are quite diverse; causally, there is a proliferation of dendritic cells.
  • Colon (large intestine) tumors, unspecified.
  • Lymphomas – malignant neoplasms in the lymphatic system.
  • Metastases (daughter tumors) of unspecified tumors.
  • Osteomyelofibrosis or other myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) (formerly: chronic myeloproliferative diseases (CMPE)) – progressive disease associated with obliteration of the bone marrow.
  • Pancreatic (pancreas) tumor, unspecified.
  • Bone marrow tumors, unspecified

Genitourinary system (kidneys, urinary tract – reproductive organs) (N00-N99).

  • Unexplained renal enlargement, unspecified

Injuries, poisoning, and other sequelae of external causes (S00-T98).

  • Drug reaction, unspecified
  • Bone marrow damage due to irradiation
  • Serum sickness – immune complex disease that occurs after the ingestion of protein in terms of an allergic reaction.

Medication

  • Interleukin-2 – immunology drug that stimulates other cytokines and B-cell proliferation at the same time.

Environmental stresses – intoxications (poisonings).