The spleen also stores blood cells that the body can use in an emergency, such as severe blood loss. The spleen holds around 25–30% of the body’s red blood cells and about 25% of its platelets.

Sickle cell disease affects millions of people throughout the world. Sickled blood cells can clog the spleen’s filters, leading to a potentially life-threatening situation.

Reference: Qiang Y et al. Microfluidic study of retention and elimination of abnormal red blood cells by human spleen with implications for sickle cell disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2023. doi: ...

Wenzhou Medical University researchers have reimagined the spleen as a viable site for islet transplantation, ... In type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys native beta cells, ...

Researchers say nanoparticles could help engineer the spleen – a more promising long-term survival site than the liver – into ...

However, sickle cells - RBCs from sickle cell disease (SCD) patients - degrade much faster within the. Healthy human red blood cells (RBCs) gradually degrade over their lifespan of ~120 days. ...

A recent clinicopathological conference 12 reports a 14-gm. spleen in a patient who died of pulmonary infarction, having had sickling and target cells noted in his laboratory work.

Spleen pain may feel like discomfort in the upper left side of the abdomen. It can occur for a range of reasons, including inflammation or injury. The treatment will depend on the underlying cause ...

Some people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) get a rare disorder known as Felty's Syndrome (FS). It causes an enlarged spleen and a very low white blood count. It can be painful and lead to serious ...