Hodgkin's disease in the spleen. A morphological study of 140 biopsy cases.

140 spleens involved by untreated Hodgkin's disease were studied utilizing conventional histological methods. Regardless of the subtype of Hodgkin's disease, infiltrates of neoplastic cells were present either in the periarteriolar lymphoid sheath, the marginal zone or in both locations. Initially, infiltrates were confined to the splenic white pulp, later larger nodular foci of Hodgkin's disease developed by coalescence of several infiltrates. Neoplastic cells in Hodgkin's disease may reach the spleen by both retrograde lymphatic spread or the splenic artery; the presence of neoplastic cells in both T- and B-cell areas of the splenic white pulp implies a preference for Hodgkin's disease in the spleen with regard to a suitable microenvironment. This may be provided by certain macrophage subpopulations.