Summary
SPLENIC function was assessed by counting the percentage of pitted erythrocytes in twenty patients with ulcerative colitis and eighteen patients with Crohn’s disease.
This method is a sensitive one of detecting hyposplenism. Ten patients with ulcerative colitis and six patients with Crohn’s disease had pitted erythrocyte counts above the level found in normosplenic individuals (3.4%). The levels were less than those in a group of patients who had had splenectomy. Age and sex had no effect on pit counts. Although disease activity and extent did not affect pit counts, it tends to be higher in patients with more extensive and more active disease.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ryan, F. P., Smart, C. D., Holdisworth, C. D., Preston, F. E. Hyposplenism in inflammatory bowel disease. Gut 1978: 19, 50–55.
Jewell, D. P., Berney, J. J., Pettit, J. E. Splenic phagocytic function in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Path. 1981: 13, 717–723.
Palmer, K. R., Sheriff, S., Holdsworth, C. F., Ryan, F. P. Further experience of hyposplenism in inflammatory bowel disease. Quart. J. Med. 1981: 200, 464–471.
Corazza, G. R., Bullen, A. W., Hall, R., Robinson, P. J., Losowsky, M. S. Simple method of assessing splenic function in coeliac disease. Clin. Sci. 1981: 60, 109–113.
O’Grady, J. G. Splenic function in coeliac disease. MD Thesis, University College, Galway. 1983.
Talstad, I., Gjone, E. The disease activity of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Scand. J. Gastroenterol. 1976: 11, 403–408.
Harvey, R. F., Bradshaw, J. M. A simple index of Crohn’s Disease activity. Lancet 1980: 1, 514.
Pearson, H. A., Johnston, D., Smith, K. A., Touloukian, R. J. The born-again spleen: return of splenic function after splenectomy for trauma. N. Engl. J. Med. 1978: 298, 1389–1392.
K-Godfrey. Comparing the means of several groups. N. Engl. J. Med. 1985: 313, 1450–1456.
Swinscow, T. D. V. Statistics at Square One. Eighth edition. 1983.
Koyama, S., Kihira, H., Aoki, S., Ohnishi, H. Postsplenectomy vacuole: a new erythrocyte inclusion body. Mie. Med. J. 1962: 11, 425–437.
Bisno, A. L., Freeman, J. C. The syndrome of asplenia pneumococcal sepsis and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Ann. Intern. Med. 1970: 71, 389.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rameh, B.S., Stevens, F.M. & McCarthy, C.F. Hyposplenism in inflammatory Bowel disease. I.J.M.S. 157, 8–9 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02953677
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02953677