Studies on Banti's Syndrome

The present paper reports on cases of Banti's syndrome which survived splenectomy at the authors' department. Post-operative changes in hematology were studied at the time of discharge from the hospital as well as on late examinations performed one half year or longerr after the operation. The results were as follows, suggesting favorable effects of splenectomy on the impaired hematology of this syndrome. 1. The incidence of anemia, with red cell count less than 4 millions per cubic millimeter, was 32.9 per cent at the time of discharge from the hospital and 51.4 per cent on late examinations, compared with the pre-operative rate of 79.6 per cent. A positive correlation was found between the grade of splenomegaly and the grade of post-splenectomy improvement of anemia; the higher the former the more remarkable the latter. 2. The above increase in the number of red cells was associated with a more marked increase in hemoglobin content of the blood, resulting in an increase in the color index. Hypochromic anemia, which had been observed pre-operatively in 49 per cent of the cases, was found on late examinations in only 16.2 per cent. 3. White cell count of less than 4, 000 per cubic millimeter, which had predominanted (73.8 per cent) in the pre-operative cases, became uncommon after splenectomy, being observed in 5.4 per cent at the time of discharge and in 10.8 per cent on late examinations. 4. The above improvement of leucopenia was accompanied with an increase in lymphocytes and a relative decrease in neutrophils. 5. On late examination, none of the cases was found to be associated with marked thrombocytopenia, in contrast to the high pre-operative incidence of 56.6 per cent. In most of the cases prolonged bleeding time was also brought into the normal range after splenectomy.