The spleen is vital lymphatic organ in the human body which located in the left hypochondrial region. Currently, its anatomical variation with immunological and hematological functions for its clinical significance gets attention. The aim of this study was to assess the anatomical variation of spleen in an adult human cadaver.
Methods: This study was conducted in 21 apparently normal adult male of unknown age human cadaveric spleens. institutional based observational descriptive study design was applied to assess the morphometric values of the spleen like its length, breadth, width and weight and the morphologic features like the shape, notches, borders, surfaces and impressions on the spleens were observed in all formalin fixed cadavers in selected university medical school of Ethiopian.
Result: Out of 21 spleen samples various shapes of the spleens with triangular shaped 8 (38.10%), wedge shaped 5 (23.81%), tetrahedral shaped 3 (14.29%), oval shaped 4 (19.04%) and kidney shaped 1 (4.76 %) of the spleens were observed .The lengths of the spleens varied between 9.7 cm to 13.7 cm, with an average of 11.2 cm. Their breadth was between 3.5 and 9.5 cm with an average breadth of 6.6 cm. Their widths varied between 2.3 and 7.3 cm with an average of 5.0 cm. The weights of the spleens showed great variations, ranging between 45.72 and 331.41 gm, with an average of 147.76 gm. Out of 21 spleen samples,18 (85.71%) of spleens had the hilar length varies from 4-8 cm with an average of 4.5 cm. The splenic notches were present on the superior, intermediate and inferior borders. However, accessory spleens were not found at the hilum of the spleen.
The knowledge on the anatomical variations of the spleen is of fundamental importance to the clinicians during the routine clinical examinations of the abdomen.
