ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 October 1979
Page Count: 5

Sudden Death and Sepsis After Splenectomy
Reay, DT
Chief medical examiner, King County, Wash

Nakonechny, D
Medical examiner, King County, Wash

(Received 26 February 1979; accepted 2 April 1979)

Abstract

There have been a number of case reports dealing with pneumococcal infections after splenectomy [1,2]. Early reports emphasized that fatal infections occurred in patients with a basic underlying serious disease process that involved primarily the reticuloendothelial system such as in diffuse cancer or lymphoma, histiocytosis, sickle cell anemia, and extensive hemosiderosis [3]. It was generally believed that splenectomy done for trauma imparted no greater risk to infection than a simple appendectomy [4], Since that time, follow-up studies have shown that asplenic patients are at risk from overwhelming sepsis regardless of the reason for the removal of the spleen [5].

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Paper ID: JFS10903J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS10903J
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