Gas-producing infection of the spleen in a super-super-obese patient.

Gas-producing bacteria are known to selectively colonize a variety of abdominal viscera, but gas-producing infection limited to the spleen until now has not been reported. A gas-producing (emphysematous) infection of the spleen was diagnosed in a super-super-obese diabetic patient with abdominal pain and signs of sepsis. The patient presented a serious diagnostic challenge because massive abdominal obesity did not enable her to pass through the aperture of a standard computerized tomography unit. Therapeutic options were limited because computerized tomography-guided drainage or splenectomy were technically not feasible or were considered too risky.