[Acute non-specific splenitis as indicator of systemic infection. Assessment of 71 autopsy cases].

Classic pathology textbooks claim that acute splenitis reflects septic states, nevertheless, the evidence upon which that association is based remains unclear. We assessed the occurrence of acute splenitis, as an indicator of systemic infection, in 34 autopsies performed in patients in whom the cause of death was due to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, secondary to sepsis (group A); and in 37 cases of death by non-infectious causes (group B). These necropsies were done during the period January 31, 1999-December 31, 2000, at the Pathology Department of the Hospital General del Sur "Dr.