Importance of the Spleen as a Reservoir for Erythrocytes

Abstract

Conclusions

Repeated examinations of the hematocrit value of the peripheric blood following the intravenous administration of adrenalin in 4 dogs before and for a period of 18 months following splenectomy could demonstrate that (1) the acute polycythemia following adrenalin which is regularly observed in the normal dog disappears after splenectomy; (2) after that period the polycythemia returns but does not reach the same degree as in the normal dog. These results suggest a slow substitution of the erythrocyte-storing function of the spleen by another capillary system.

One of the modern conceptions of the physiology of the spleen is to regard this organ in human beings and in animals as a reservoir which is able under different conditions to pour red blood cells into the circulation (Lauda 1 ). The discrepancy of the results obtained by various authors (Lauda and Haam, Radosaljevic and Sekulic, Testoni 2 and others) concerning the appearance or nonappearance of adrenalin polycythemia in splenectomized animals makes the supposition acceptable, that other organs or organ systems substitute sooner or later the erythrocyte-storing function of the spleen.

The methods of our experiments were simple. Three dogs and 3 puppies were splenectomized and kept under observation for 18 months following the operation. Before the splenectomy the degree of the adrenalin polycythemia in the peripheric bloodstream was determined in 2 consecutive examinations, and the same test was repeated shortly after the animals had recovered from the splenectomy and thereafter at regular intervals. Care was taken that the animals were kept under healthy physiological conditions with plenty of freedom and exercise. Two of the splenectomized puppies died 3 and 5 months respectively after the splenectomy, of intercurrent diseases. Because of their illness and subsequent death the results of their tests have been discarded entirely from our charts. The other animals remained healthy and are being kept for further observation. The postoperative anemia, which could be observed in a mild degree in all of our operated dogs, disappeared after 2 or 3 months.