Peliosis of the spleen. Report of a case and review of the literature.

Peliotic lesions of the liver and spleen are rare and usually occur in patients with wasting diseases, such as tuberculosis and cancer, or in patients who have received treatment with anabolic-androgenic steroids. Peliosis appears grossly as blood-filled, cyst-like or nodular lesions, 1 to 5 mm in diameter, that are distributed throughout the parenchyma of the affected tissue but do not alter the size of the organ. Intraperitoneal rupture of a peliotic bleb can be fatal. Peliosis of the spleen usually occurs in conjunction with peliosis hepatis, but in this subject with myelofibrosis and myeloid metaplasia who underwent autopsy, the lesions were present only in the spleen.