Introduction
A swelling of the spleen, i.e. its increase in size, is called splenomegaly in medical jargon. In the majority of cases, it does not cause any symptoms and is often a random diagnosis. It can occur both in the context of infectious diseases and malignant (malignant) diseases. Whether and to what extent a therapy is necessary depends on the underlying disease.
Causes
One reason for an enlargement of the spleen can be infections with bacteria or viruses. A typical example is Pfeiffer’s glandular fever. It develops after infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).
Very often young people are affected by the disease. It is often accompanied by a swelling of numerous lymph nodes, not infrequently there is also an enlargement of the liver and spleen. Malaria can also cause swelling of the spleen.
Another possible cause of an enlargement of the spleen is so-called storage diseases. This involves deposits of metabolic products that are not sufficiently broken down. The deposits can take place in the spleen, which then increases in size.
An example of such a storage disease is Gaucher’s disease. Amyloidosis is also one of the storage diseases that can be associated with an enlargement of the spleen. Furthermore, high pressure in the portal vein system (liver vessels) can cause the spleen to swell.
Such high pressure can occur, for example, in the case of weakness of the right heart or liver cirrhosis. Pfeiffer’s glandular fever, also known as mononucleosis, is a viral disease caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. Young people are often affected.
Flu-like symptoms and fever occur, and the lymph nodes swell significantly. Swollen pharyngeal tonsils and sore throats are also common. The disease can sometimes drag on for months, and in later stages it can manifest itself mainly through tiredness, exhaustion and reduced performance.
It is not uncommon for the spleen and/or the liver to become significantly enlarged. A causal therapy does not exist, since antibiotics do not help with viral diseases. Symptoms can be treated, for example with antipyretic and anti-inflammatory drugs.
Last but not least, malignant (malignant) diseases are responsible for an increase in the size of the spleen. In particular, certain types of leukemia (blood cancer) can cause pronounced splenomegaly. This is caused by the following mechanism: The blood components of humans (red blood cells, platelets, white blood cells) are normally produced in their bone marrow.
In leukemia, many cancer cells multiply in the bone marrow. These produce a kind of cell clone, so only white blood cells are produced by the cancer cells. As the cancer cells continue to multiply, at some point they flood the bone marrow and the normal cells, which should produce the other blood components, have no place left.
So they have to find somewhere else. In patients with leukaemia, the blood formation from the bone marrow can be shifted to the spleen and liver, which is called extramedullary blood formation. This leads to a significant swelling of the liver and/or spleen.
A swelling of the spleen after a simple cold is rather unusual. Such swelling is more likely to occur during certain infectious diseases, such as Pfeiffer’s glandular fever. Alcohol has rather little effect on the spleen. Alcohol consumption therefore does not usually lead to an enlargement of the spleen. However, chronic alcohol consumption leads to cirrhosis of the liver in some patients, which in turn can occasionally cause swelling of the spleen.
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