Beaver tail liver and congenital asplenia in a polytrauma patient

Ahmad Alrahmani, Sharfuddin Chowdhury

PAMJ. 2024; 47:18. Published 17 Jan 2024 | doi:10.11604/pamj.2024.47.18.42531

A 22-year-old male involved in a motor vehicle accident presented to the Emergency Department of King Saud Medical City with facial, neck, and chest injuries. He did not have any previous medical or surgical history. He was conscious, oriented, and vitally stable upon presentation. According to the trauma survey protocol, he underwent a pan-computed tomography (CT) scan following the initial evaluation. A CT scan of the face revealed a nondisplaced fracture of the left palatine bone, a fracture of the left infratemporal wall of the maxillary sinus, and associated hemosinuses. CT of the neck revealed a C2 fracture involving both lateral masses and the body. A CT abdomen revealed an absent spleen and an elongated left lobe of the liver that extended laterally, known as "Beaver tail liver," and occupied the space of the spleen in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. As an anatomical variant, he also possessed a double inferior vena cava (IVC) with retro aortic right renal vein and hemi azygos continuation of the IVC. Except for thrombocytosis with a platelet count of 606 X 109/L (reference range, 150 X 109/L to 400 X 109/L), his initial blood results were within normal limits. His peripheral blood smear revealed Howell-Jolly´s bodies and a mild thrombocytosis.
Corresponding author
Ahmad Alrahmani, Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (dr_ar419@hotmail.com)


The Pan African Medical Journal (ISSN: 1937-8688) is a subsidiary of the Pan African Medical Journal. The contents of this journal is intended exclusively for professionals in the medical, paramedical and public health and other health sectors.

Currently tracked by: DOAJ, AIM, Google Scholar, AJOL, EBSCO, Scopus, Embase, IC, HINARI, Global Health, PubMed Central, PubMed/Medline, ESCI

Physical address: Kenya: 3rd Floor, Park Suite Building, Parkland Road, Nairobi. PoBox 38583-00100, tel: +254 (0)20-520-4356 | Cameroon: Immeuble TechnoPark Essos, Yaounde, PoBox: 10020 Yaounde, tel: +237 (0)24-309-5880