Tseng H, Ho CM, Tien YW. Reappraisal of surgical decision-making in patients with splenic sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation: Case series and literature review. World J Gastrointest Surg 2021; 13(8): 848-858 [PMID: 34512908 DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v13.i8.848]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Cheng-Maw Ho, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 7 Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan. miningho@ntu.edu.tw
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Surg. Aug 27, 2021; 13(8): 848-858 Published online Aug 27, 2021. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v13.i8.848
Reappraisal of surgical decision-making in patients with splenic sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation: Case series and literature review
Hao Tseng, Cheng-Maw Ho, Yu-Wen Tien
Hao Tseng, School of Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei 100, Taiwan
Hao Tseng, Department of Medical Education, and Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100, Taiwan
Cheng-Maw Ho, Yu-Wen Tien, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei 100, Taiwan
Author contributions: Tseng H drafted the manuscript; Tseng H and Ho CM designed the study; Tseng H conducted data processing; Tseng H, Ho CM and Tien YW performed data analysis; Ho CM and Tien YW were the directors responsible for general organization and instruction; all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan (NTUH REC: 202102011RIND).
Informed consent statement: Because this was a retrospective study using chart review, the institutional review board waived the need for informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Tseng H, Ho CM and Tien YW all declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Cheng-Maw Ho, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, No. 7 Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan. miningho@ntu.edu.tw
Received: April 13, 2021 Peer-review started: April 13, 2021 First decision: June 23, 2021 Revised: June 28, 2021 Accepted: July 19, 2021 Article in press: July 19, 2021 Published online: August 27, 2021 Processing time: 128 Days and 11.5 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Clinicians are not familiar with the sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT), which is gaining recognition as a benign splenic tumor.
Research motivation
We challenge that SANT is rare and whether critical imaging review could help avoid unnecessary splenectomy.
Research objectives
This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of SANT among splenic tumors and the decision-making process of SANT management.
Research methods
Twenty hospitalized patients who underwent splenectomy in 2018 and 2019 in a tertiary university hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Discriminative features differentiating SANT from other non-SANT splenic tumors were descriptively analyzed.
Research results
Fourteen splenectomies were indicated for splenic tumors, including 3 SANTs (21%). Hypointensity on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, spoke wheel enhancing pattern, and cold spot in positron emission tomography scan helped establish the diagnosis of SANT. Splenectomy need not be performed in patients with typical imaging features of SANT.
Research conclusions
SANT is not rare. Splenectomy should not be routinely indicated as the only management option for SANT with typical imaging features.
Research perspectives
Further studies are needed to confirm the diagnostic imaging features of SANT in the future.
