Thrombosis after a Splenectomy in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus-related Thrombocytopenia

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystemic inflammatory autoimmune disease mediated by autoantibodies and immune complexes. In SLE, a splenectomy to control the thrombocytopenia does not increase the total risk of thrombosis, but tends to increase arterial events. We experienced a patient with lupus-anticoagulant positive SLE who developed a venous thrombosis after a splenectomy for the control of thrombocytopenia, which was a very rare case.