912 Diseases of the Spleen. 



In an uncomplicated purulent inflammation of tlie spleen, 

 surgical interference is to be considered, internal treatment 

 affording no promise whatever of results. 



Degive extirpated the spleen of a clog, which was adherent to the omentum, 

 without any harm to the animal. 



Literature. Amdt, B. t. W., 1889. 243. — Degive, Ann., 1888. 10. — van den 

 Eeckhout, Ann., 1906. 619. — Faustle, W. f. Tk., 1908. 362. — Fleischer, B. t. W., 

 1906. 922. — Frohner, Mouh., 1907. XVIII. 144. — Gmeiner, Monh., 1896. XVII. 

 510. — Immiuger, W. f. Tk., 1892. 229. — Kovats, Vet., 1895. 360. — de Meestre, 

 Ann., 1887. 354. — Mobius, S. B., 1888. 71. — Notz, W. f. Vk., 1891. 280. — 

 Eichter, Z. f. \k., 1906. 390. — Zimmermaun, B. t. W., 1894. 358. 



Hemorrhage of the Spleen. (Haemorrkagia lienis.) Hemor- 

 rhages into the spleen are not infrequent, but can hardly be 

 diagnosed clinically. (Rupp observed obstinate constipation in 

 a dog with a large splenic hematoma.) The cause of the hemor- 

 rhage may lie in active or passive hyperemia, or in acute splenic 

 enlargement. Berg and other Danish veterinarians quite fre- 

 quently observed diffuse splenic hemorrhage in cattle which 

 suddenly became ill and died soon, so that anthrax was often 

 suspected. Hemorrhage in the spleen not infrequently occurs 

 after contusion of the splenic region, but is rare after the 

 lodgement of non-infected emboli. The hemorrhage may cause 

 the spleen to burst. 



Literature. Berg, Maanedsskr., 1905. XVI. 441. — Bodon, Vet., 1899. 432. 

 — Querrini, Monh., 1908. XX. 90, — Eupp, B. t. W., 1906. 44. — AVitt, B. t. W. 

 1908. 625. 



Rupture of the Spleen. (Ruptura lienis.) A healthy spleen 

 only very rarely tears from direct injury, but in rapidly in- 

 creasing acute swelling this may occur without any traumatic 

 effect, and internal fatal hemorrhages from such a cause are 

 by no means rare; they are observed in anthrax with relative 

 frequency. Sometimes here also a traumatic accident that may 

 be slight in itself, such as falling down, rapid motion, cough, 

 etc., may form the immediate cause of the rupture, but in other 

 instances no external cause can be determined. Witt, who often 

 observed sudden death, and hemorrhage into the abdominal 

 cavity in cattle with ruptured spleen, took the disease to be 

 malaria, as he had found white corpuscles, similar to parasites, 

 in the blood cells. In a case of Darvas' the rupture of the 

 spleen was due to the bursting of an echinococcus. 



Rupture of the spleen produces in general only symptoms 

 of internal fatal hemorrhage, the cause of which can at best 

 be suspected on account of the simultaneous colicky S3^nptoms, 

 the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity, and still 

 more on account of a splenic tumor that may be detected. 

 (Drewien found on rectal exploration in a horse a large swell- 

 ing in the left side of the abdomen.) (Literature under Hemor- 

 rhage of the Spleen.) 



Torsion of the Spleen. (Torsio lienis.) Torsion of the 



