Splenic autotransplant and residual partial spleen: prevention of septicemia.

Postsplenectomy septicemia carries an ominous prognosis. Accompanying disseminated intravascular coagulation and adrenal hemorrhage result in a high mortality, despite aggressive treatment by antibiotics. The efficacy of prevention by in situ partial spleen and splenic auto-transplant were evaluated in Sprague-Dawley rats. All totally splenectomized rats died following intravenous challenge of live pneumococcus. Both partial spleens and autotransplants gave substantial protection. The rats which succumbed to pneumococcal sepsis demonstrated massive fibrin thrombi in renal glomeruli and frank adrenal hemorrhage, strikingly similar to clinical observations.