Asplenia historical perspective

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Kalpana Giri, MBBS[2]

Hippocrates made the first description of the gross anatomy of the spleen in 421 BC. In 1899, Chauffard described that increased splenic activity is linked to hemolysis, and in 1910, Sutherland and Brughard performed the first therapeutic splenectomy in a patient with hereditary spherocytosis. In 1919, Morris and Bullock provided initial experimental evidence of the protective role of the spleen against infections.

• In 421 BC, Hippocrates made the first description of the gross anatomy of the spleen.^[1]
• In 360 BC, Plato, described the spleen as been constructed “with a view of keeping the liver bright and pure.
• In 1899, Chauffard described that increased splenic activity is linked to hemolysis, and in 1910, Sutherland and Brughard performed the first therapeutic splenectomy in a patient with hereditary spherocytosis.
• In 1913, Eppinger was the first to introduced the term hyposplenism to describe the post-splenectomy state.
• In 1916, Kaznelson performed therapeutic splenectomy in a patient with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.
• In 1919, Morris and Bullock provided initial experimental evidence of the protective role of the spleen against infections.^[2]
• In 1935, Diggs provide a histological description of the spleen in sickle cell anemia.^[1]
• In 1952, King and Schumacker reported a series of cases of overwhelming post-splenectomy infections (OPSI) caused by encapsulated bacteria.^[2]
• In 1955, Rowley has demonstrated that splenectomized human beings fail to respond with a significant rise in antibody titer when an antigen is given intravenously.^[3]
• In 1955, Dameshek coined the term hyposplenism to describe a patient with celiac disease.^[2]
• In 1969, Pearson et al, from USA, was the first to discover the term functional hypoplasia, a few decades ago when he identified some children suffering from sickle cell disease, who presented with the same clinical course as in splenectomised patients.^[4]