LymeNet Flash: Spleen - heterogeneous ?

This is topic Spleen - heterogeneous ? in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/1/46281

Posted by Samantha (Member # 3198) on :

My daughter had an abdominal ultrasound today. The technician said she had a heterogeneous spleen. Any one know what this means?

Thanks!

Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :

The spleen stores iron in an "emergency". It is like having an "extra" unit of blood available if we should get in a car accident (for example) and start to hemorrhage.

Spleen functions (real basic):

http://www.scinfo.org/tutorial/Sickle%20Cell/tsld023.htm

Many pathogens use iron to multiple, so it looks like the body goes into a "capture iron" mode (can enlarge), but Bb does not like iron. In fact, it doesn't particularly like hemaglobin...which carries oxygen...

It appears in lyme, not only does TNF alpha rise, but IL1 B too. The former is a proinflammatory cytokine that looks to arise from the T-cells (thymus) and IL1 B (interleukin 1 beta) looks to arrise from the bone marrow.

These each have very specific functions and reasons WHY these increase and not others.

Here's a link:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=
PubMed&list_uids=7473345&dopt=Abstract

Or go to Google, search "Pubmed" and once there, type in this number: 7473345

Heterogeneous means having different components.