Your client has an elevated platelet count. What do you suspect?

An elevated platelet count, known as thrombocytosis, can occur for various reasons, including responses to stress, inflammation, and certain conditions affecting blood cell production. In the context of this question, the most relevant cause among the choices provided is splenectomy.

The spleen plays a crucial role in the regulation and removal of platelets from circulation. When someone undergoes a splenectomy, the body's mechanism for filtering out platelets is diminished, leading to an increase in platelet count. This physiological response explains why, after removal of the spleen, patients often exhibit elevated levels of platelets.

The other conditions listed, while they can be associated with various hematological changes, do not typically lead to thrombocytosis directly linked to their pathology or are characterized by different laboratory findings, such as thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) in the case of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Thus, splenectomy is the most plausible explanation for the elevated platelet count in this context.