Diseases of the Spleen 



The diseases of the spleen in animals are known almost 

 exclusively from the results of post-mortem examinations. 

 This is due to the fact that in larger animals examination is 

 very difficult owing to the unfavorable anatomical position of 

 the spleen, so that in most cases only marked changes in form 

 and size of the organ can be determined; furthermore diseases 

 of the spleen usually produce only very indefinite disturbances 

 in function. It must, however, be noted that in veterinary 

 medicine a careful and systematic examination of the spleen 

 has hitherto not received much attention. 



In view of the very small number of clinical observati6ns 

 it is impossible for the present to afford a satisfactory descrip- 

 tion of the symptoms. 



Acute Enlargement of the Spleen (Tumor lienis acutus). 

 This occurs very frequently. Owing to its spongy structure 

 the spleen contains, even under normal conditions, very much 

 blood, the quantity of which may vary within wide limits ac- 

 cording to different influences. Svoboda, for instance, found 

 the spleens of healthy sheep, which had been given food and 

 water just before being killed, enlarged two and threefold, and 

 Lenkey frequently observed an enlargement of the spleen in 

 food animals whose central nervous system was destroyed from 

 brain to lumbar cord by means of a stick forced into the skull. 

 In fact there is no other organ which, in a short time, increases 

 so much in size through variations in its blood contents, while 

 on the other hand the smooth muscular fibers and elastic ele- 

 ments of the spleen enable it to contract rapidly when the influx 

 ceases, and to remove its surplus of blood. 



A pathologically increased flow of blood to the spleen is 

 sometimes produced by contusions or wounds of the splenic 

 region, and is also likely to occur in the initial stages of in- 

 flammatory processes as well as in impediments to the portal 



909 



