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== Clinical Summary ===
This 23-year-old black female delivered a stillborn infant by Caesarean section, following which she experienced excessive uterine bleeding including the passage of blood clots. Further study revealed an enlarged spleen and thrombocytopenia (platelet count 58,000). A splenectomy was performed with an uneventful postoperative course other than persistent pain in her right leg (the right hip had been fractured 2 years earlier). Subsequently she developed aseptic necrosis of the left femoral head requiring a prosthetic replacement. Microscopic evaluation of the bone removed at the time of surgery revealed Gaucher cells in the marrow space.
== Autopsy Findings ==
The surgical specimen was a 935-gram spleen. Its surface was pale with an area of bluish discoloration. The cut surface revealed the same pale appearance.
== Images ==
File:IPLab5Gaucher8.jpg|This is a higher-power photomicrograph of the spleen from this case. At this higher power individual cells can be better appreciated and the fibrillar nature of the eosinophilic cytoplasmic material can be seen.
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== Virtual Microscopy ==
<peir-vm>IPLab5Gaucher</peir-vm>
== Study Questions ==
* [http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/944157-overview eMedicine Medical Library: Gaucher Disease]
* [http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/hematology_and_oncology/spleen_disorders/splenomegaly.html Merck Manual: Splenomegaly]
* [http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/pediatrics/inherited_disorders_of_metabolism/lysosomal_storage_disorders.html Merck Manual: Lysosomal Storage Disorders]
=== Journal Articles ===
=== Images ===
* [http://peir.path.uab.edu{{SERVER}}/library/index.php?/tags/1670-gaucher_cell PEIR Digital Library: Gaucher Cell Images]
* [http://library.med.utah.edu/WebPath/HEMEHTML/HEMEIDX.html Webpath: Hematopathology]