The following report should be of interest as it is the first case of its kind in the literature:
The patient is the sister of a boy who had been successfully splenectomized by Dr. Henry Roth about two years previously for what was clinically diagnosed as Gaucher's disease and proved so after operation by histologic study of the spleen.
Other than this family history and a moderately enlarged spleen, there were no symptoms pointing to or warranting the diagnosis of Gaucher's splenomegaly in the sister. However, she was referred from the Lebanon Hospital dispensary by Dr. Charles Herrman to the surgical service of the hospital under the care of Dr. Parker Syms for operation.
Dr. Syms was kind enough to follow my suggestion of spleen puncture before operation to establish the diagnosis.
While the idea has been voiced before, it has never been tried. A simple puncture with a good