OBJECTIVETo study the clinicopathologic features and differential diagnosis of splenic lymphangioma.

METHODSEighteen cases of splenic lymphangioma were retrieved from the pathology archives during the period between January 1990 to December 2005. The clinicopathologic features were analyzed. Immunohistochemical study was performed on the paraffin sections of 16 cases.

RESULTSThe age of the patients ranged from 9 to 72 years (median = 40 years). Thirteen patients were males and 5 were females. Clinically, the tumor could be asymptomatic or present with abdominal symptoms and hypersplenism. Follow-up information was available in 13 patients (72.2%) and the duration varied from 5 months to 15 years. All 13 patients had an uneventful clinical course, with no evidence of residual disease, local recurrence or metastasis. Gross examination showed splenic enlargement. The tumor appeared as cystic (8/18), solid (5/18) or honeycomb mass (5/18), either solitary (5/18) or multifocal (13/18). Histologically, splenic lymphangioma could be subclassified as cavernous (9/18), cystic (5/18) or mixed (4/18). Immunohistochemical study showed that the positivity rates for CD9 and D2-40 were 100% and 43.8% respectively.

CONCLUSIONSSplenic lymphangioma is a rarely encountered entity that can be misdiagnosed as a splenic hemangioma. A definite diagnosis depends on pathologic examination.