Can anemia cause splenomegaly?

The spleen is an important organ in the human body, and its important functions are blood storage and immunity. If there are certain problems with the human blood, such as anemia, it will cause the spleen to become enlarged. In addition, there are many other possible causes of splenomegaly, such as infectious splenomegaly, congestive splenomegaly, hyperplastic splenomegaly, etc. Below we will introduce the causes and treatment methods of splenomegaly in detail.

1. Does anemia cause splenomegaly?

Yes! The spleen is also an important organ in the human body. It is an important blood storage organ and an important immune organ. The spleen plays a very important role in the body's defense system.

Under normal circumstances, the spleen cannot be felt. If you lie on your back or right side and may touch the edge of the spleen, it is considered to be splenomegaly. In recent years, with the widespread application of B-ultrasound in clinical practice, a large number of "enlarged spleens" that cannot be felt by hand have been discovered. In health examinations, B-ultrasound shows splenomegaly in about 15%, and most of them cannot be felt by hand. B-ultrasound shows splenomegaly after actual measurement, that is, it is truly large, and can show spleen enlargement earlier. When the spleen can be touched by hand, the spleen has more than doubled in size.

2. Causes of Splenomegaly

(1) Infectious splenomegaly. Various acute and chronic infections such as typhoid, paratyphoid, kala-azar, schistosomiasis, malaria, viral hepatitis, sepsis, late syphilis, etc.

(2) Congestive splenomegaly. Bantelli syndrome, cirrhosis, cardiogenic cirrhosis due to chronic heart failure, chronic constrictive pericarditis, portal vein or splenic vein thrombosis.

(3) Hyperplastic splenomegaly. It is seen in certain blood diseases such as leukemia, hemolytic anemia, malignant lymphoma, etc.

(4)Others. Malignant tumors of the spleen are relatively rare, including splenic cysts, disseminated lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, polyarteritis nodosa, and Gaucher's disease.

3. What to do if your spleen is enlarged

Because the causes of an enlarged spleen are complicated, except for a few physiological reasons, the cause should be found under the guidance of a doctor and regular check-ups should be conducted.

Because an enlarged spleen can have adverse effects on the human body, in the past the main treatment method was surgery to remove the spleen. Splenectomy has its benefits as it can correct the harm that splenomegaly can cause to the human body, but this method also has its shortcomings. Total splenectomy will change the patient's immune function, resulting in disappearance of spleen filtering function, decreased IgM, decreased levels of modulin and opsonin, disorder of T lymphocyte system, and a significant decrease in the number of peripheral blood lymphocytes and lymphocyte conversion rate, which will lead to a significant increase in the chance of outbreak of infection, large surgical trauma and high cost. There are also some patients with poor liver function, ascites, low protein, hematemesis and other conditions who are not suitable for surgery.