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Figure 1. Malarial spleen in a 23-year-old man. (a) Arterial phase CT scan shows lack of parenchymal enhancement of the enlarged spleen and several small lymph nodes in the perihepatic space. The cortex of the left kidney is markedly enhanced. (b) Portal phase CT scan shows mild enhancement of the spleen. The attenuation value of the spleen (81 HU) is much lower than that of the liver (125 HU). (c) Stained peripheral blood smear shows a ring form trophozoite (arrow) and a gametocyte (arrowhead) within enlarged red blood cells, which is consistent with P. vivax. (Wright-Geimsa, x1000). (d) Arterial phase CT scan obtained 3 months after treatment shows an intense striped enhancement of the normal sized spleen.
