The likely association between wandering spleen and absent left kidney

Abstract

Wandering spleen is a cause of acute surgical abdomen with serious consequences. It arises from an absence or weakness of the supporting suspensory splenic ligaments. There is often a delayed diagnosis due to its non-specific clinical presentation. This leads to stalled acquisition of confirmatory diagnostic imaging with resultant increased morbidity and mortality. Congenital or acquired absence of the left kidney results in loss of the splenorenal ligament, a key ligament to maintain normal splenic position in the abdomen. Two patients, one with OHVIRA (obstructed hemivagina ipsilateral renal anomaly) syndrome and another who underwent a left nephrectomy during infancy, developed a wandering spleen with acute splenic torsion in the setting of an absent left kidney. This case series aims to increase awareness to the likely predisposition for individuals with an absent left kidney to develop a wandering spleen.