Despite being well visualized by different cross-sectional imaging techniques, the spleen is many times overlooked during the abdominal examination. The major reason is the low frequency of splenic abnormalities, the majority consisting of incidental findings. There has been a steady increase in the number of performed abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies; therefore, it is important to be familiar to the major MRI characteristics of disease processes involving the spleen, in order to interpret the findings correctly, reaching whenever possible the appropriate diagnosis. The spleen may be involved in several pathologic conditions like congenital diseases, trauma, inflammation, vascular disorders and hematologic disorders, benign and malignant tumors, and other disease processes that focally or diffusely affect the spleen. This paper presents a description and representative MRI images for many of these disorders. 1. Introduction Splenic disease has always been a challenge to the radiologist. Despite of being well visualized by different cross sectional imaging techniques, the spleen is many times overlooked during the abdominal examination. The major reason is the low frequency of splenic abnormalities, the majority consisting of incidental findings. There has been a steady increase in the number of performed abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies; therefore, it is important to be familiar to the major MR imaging characteristics of disease processes involving the spleen, in order to interpret the findings correctly, reaching whenever possible the appropriate diagnosis. Nowadays, MRI permits the characterization of the most common splenic lesions, such as cysts, small hemangiomas, and hamartomas, and improvement in the detection of malignant diseases such as lymphoma and metastases [1]. The spleen may be involved by several pathologic conditions including congenital diseases, trauma, inflammation, vascular disorders and hematologic disorders, benign and malignant tumors, and other disease processes that focally or diffusely affects the spleen. This article presents a description and representative MRI images for many of these disorders. 2. The Normal Spleen The spleen is located in the left hypogastric quadrant of the abdomen and is fixed in its intraperitoneal position beneath the 9th to 11th intercostal spaces by the splenorenal, splenocolic, splenogastric, and phrenicosplenic ligaments. The configuration of the spleen is variable (typically coffee bean shaped), as well as the size, which is related with the patient’s
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