What is asplenia?
Asplenia means the absence of a spleen. Asplenia can occur in a variety of clinical settings, and it can refer to an anatomic absence of the spleen or functional asplenia secondary to a variety of disease states.
What are the causes for asplenia?
Anatomic asplenia is most often due to surgical removal of the spleen. Functional asplenia and hyposplenism result from conditions that lead to atrophy, infarction, engorgement, or infiltration of the spleen.
What happens asplenia?
Asplenia is a form of immunodeficiency, increasing the risk of sepsis from polysaccharide encapsulated bacteria, and can result in overwhelming post splenectomy infection (OPSI), often fatal within a few hours. In particular, patients are at risk from Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and meningococcus.
What is asplenia and splenic dysfunction?
Asplenia and splenic hypoplasia refer to the complete or partial lack of splenic tissue. Congenital asplenia is a rare life-threatening condition, often presenting with pneumococcal sepsis. It may arise as part of situs abnormalities, or result from an unrelated specific defect of spleen development.
How is asplenia diagnosed?
The identification of Howell-Jolly bodies on peripheral blood film is an important clue to the diagnosis of asplenia or hyposplenia. Management of patients with these conditions includes a combination of immunization, antibiotic prophylaxis and patient education.
Is asplenia and immunodeficiency?
Asplenia is a form of immunodeficiency, increasing the risk of sepsis from polysaccharide encapsulated bacteria, and can result in overwhelming post-splenectomy infection, often fatal within a few hours. In particular, patients are at risk from Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and meningococcus.
Is asplenia primary immunodeficiency?
Primary and secondary immunodeficiencies might include a combination of deficits in both cellular and humoral immunity. Certain conditions like asplenia and chronic renal disease also can cause altered immunocompetence.
What is the treatment for asplenia?
ANTIBIOTICS: PROPHYLAXIS AND TREATMENT Most authorities recommend antibiotic prophylaxis for asplenic or hyposplenic children, especially for the first two years after splenectomy. 1,20 Some investigators also advocate continuing chemoprophylaxis in children for at least five years or even until they reach age 21.
What antibiotics are given after splenectomy?
Cases of fulminant infection have been reported more than 20 years after splenectomy. Low risk patients should be counselled as to the risks and benefits of prophylaxis, particularly where adherence is an issue. The antibiotic of choice is penicillin V (phenoxymethylpenicillin).
How does asplenia affect immunity?
Splenectomized patients have been shown to have low concentrations of IgM, decreased production of antibodies directed against pneumococci and Escherichia coli, and several defects in cellular immune function, including decreased numbers of T cells and a reduction in lymphocyte proliferative responses.
How does asplenia affect the immune system?
The spleen also stores particular blood cells that fight foreign invaders until they are needed and filters old blood cells for removal. Because people with isolated congenital asplenia lack these immune functions, they are highly susceptible to bacterial infections.
How immunocompromised is asplenia?
1,2 Patients who have had a splenectomy or have functional asplenia are immunocompromised and are at increased risk for severe and overwhelming bacterial infections, particularly from encapsulated bacteria. These bacterial infections are more likely to occur in patients with viral infections.
What is asplenia and how is it characterized?
Asplenia is a form of immunodeficiency, increasing the risk of sepsis from polysaccharide encapsulated bacteria, and can result in overwhelming post splenectomy infection (OPSI), often fatal within a few hours.
What are the possible complications of asplenia?
Asplenia is a form of immunodeficiency, increasing the risk of sepsis from polysaccharide encapsulated bacteria, and can result in overwhelming post splenectomy infection (OPSI), often fatal within a few hours. In particular, patients are at risk from Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and meningococcus.
How common is congenital asplenia?
Congenital asplenia is rare. There are two distinct types of genetic disorders: heterotaxy syndrome and isolated congenital asplenia. Acquired asplenia occurs for several reasons: Due to underlying diseases that destroy the spleen ( autosplenectomy ), e.g. sickle-cell disease. Celiac disease: unknown physiopathology.
What is the role of antibiotics in the treatment of asplenia?
Because of the increased risk of infection, physicians administer oral antibiotics as prophylaxis after a surgical splenectomy, or starting at birth for congenital or functional asplenia.