tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post114052765069695936..comments2023-12-10T10:06:41.979+00:00Comments on mutations of mortality: Spleens 1Terry Hamblinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06346629921055055879noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1154421646913420122006-08-01T09:40:00.000+01:002006-08-01T09:40:00.000+01:00BarryIt was Tony Hancock. Whenever I take blood fr...Barry<BR/><BR/>It was Tony Hancock. Whenever I take blood from anybody of a certain age they always refer to that sketchTerry Hamblinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06346629921055055879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1154021445575978332006-07-27T18:30:00.000+01:002006-07-27T18:30:00.000+01:00Thank you so much for this explanation of spleen s...Thank you so much for this explanation of spleen size and how it is measured! I have an "enlarged" spleen due to a myeloproliferative disorder, and have thought these measurements were not only rather imprecise but fairly useless if one had not a baseline of size before the enlarging began.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1140721920629836722006-02-23T19:12:00.000+00:002006-02-23T19:12:00.000+00:00It is hard to pin down radiologists about much of ...It is hard to pin down radiologists about much of anything, but especially what criteria they use to assess "splenomegaly." Several, when asked, could not give me exact definitions, only "I know it when I see it."<BR/><BR/>Indeed, over the years of looking at CT scans, it is clear that spleens can enlarge in any of three dimensions, and not necessarily all.<BR/><BR/>with 3D imaging it might now be possible to measure "volume," but even then who could say what should be normal?<BR/><BR/>I think the one thing that most clinicians will agree on is that if you can feel it, it is enlarged.Vancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00420873277607900142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1140644188360522842006-02-22T21:36:00.000+00:002006-02-22T21:36:00.000+00:00Your post brings up how imprecise the measuring pr...Your post brings up how imprecise the measuring process is. You point out that different-sized people have different-sized spleens, so I imagine there is no exact "control." If a man's spleen is normally around 13 1/2 cm -- though I'm guessing this can vary, am I right? -- then a CT scan showing it to be 16 cm does not indicate nearly the problem that some might think. <BR/><BR/>I suppose you'll get into this in later installments, but it would seem that size is less important than whether the spleen is causing a disturbance in other functions, such as platelets and red blood cells. Yet countless patients are advised to get treatment on the basis of an enlarged spleen, typically as seen by CT scan, alone.<BR/><BR/>Patients hear "enlarged" and they tend to panic, but it seems this is a case where "enlarged" is relative, as are the implications of enlargement.<BR/><BR/>My spleen and I are looking forward to reading more!David Arensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13876562687586184006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1140579989098135882006-02-22T03:46:00.000+00:002006-02-22T03:46:00.000+00:00Your comment on visualising units reminds me of th...Your comment on visualising units reminds me of the skit, I think by Peter Sellers, of a first time blood donor who, when told they would take a pint of blood, replied in shock: "That's bloody nearly an armful!"<BR/><BR/>Also, as a civil engineer I was amused by one of my technicians who would draw profiles of underground pipes with the length in metres, as required, but depth in feet because he could visualise horizontal distances in metres (not so different than yards) but not depth!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com