accessory spleen (redirected from Accessory spleens)

spleen (splēn) a large, glandlike organ situated in the upper left part of the abdominal cavity, lateral to the cardiac end of the stomach. Among its functions are the disintegration of erythrocytes and the setting free of hemoglobin, which the liver converts into bilirubin; the genesis of new erythrocytes during fetal life and in the newborn; serving as a blood reservoir; and production of lymphocytes and plasma cells.

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accessory spleen  a connected or detached outlying portion, or exclave, of the spleen.

diffuse waxy spleen  amyloid degeneration of the spleen involving especially the coats of the venous sinuses and the reticulum of the organ.

floating spleen , movable spleen one displaced and abnormally movable.

sago spleen  one with amyloid infiltration, the malpighian corpuscles looking like grains of sand.

wandering spleen  floating s.

waxy spleen  a spleen affected with amyloid degeneration.

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accessory spleen

n.

Any of the small globular masses of splenic tissue occasionally found in the area of the spleen, or in one of the peritoneal folds.

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accessory spleen

Etymology: L, accessus, extra; Gk, splen

small nodules of splenic tissue that may occur in the gastrosplenic ligament, greater omentum, or other visceral sites.

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spleen

a large lymphoid organ usually situated in the cranial part of the abdominal cavity on the left of the stomach. The spleen contains the largest collection of reticuloendothelial cells in the body. In ruminants the spleen is located on the left lateral wall of the reticulum and under the last two ribs on the left side. Called also lien.

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accessory spleen

a small mass of tissue, histologically and functionally identical with that composing the normal spleen but found elsewhere in the body.

slaughter spleen

see slaughter spleen.

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accessory spleen

splen accessorius Any of a number of small aggregates or masses of encapsulated splenic tissue located adjacent to the spleen or along the gastrosplenic ligament. See Spleen.