Clinical Evaluation of Fifteen Cases of Hydatid Disease

Introduction: Hydatid disease is a zoonotic infection caused by the cestode Echinococcus spp. It is transmitted by ingestion of infectious cestode eggs, especially through dog feces. The two organs most commonly affected are the liver and the lung. In this paper, a series of 15 cases with symptomatic hydatid cysts hospitalized in our clinic and evaluated via consultations are presented. Materials and Methods: Patients, who were treated with hydatid disease between April 2006 and June 2015, were included in the study. Demographic characteristics, symptoms (fever, abdominal pain, pruritus, weakness, icterus, cough, sputum, nausea-vomiting), signs (hepatomegaly, splenomegaly), radiological-laboratory findings, complications, involvements of other body parts and treatment modalities were evaluated retrospectively. Results: Ten (66.7%) of the patients were female. The mean age of the patients was 52.3 +/- 18.3 year. Twelve (80%) patients had at least one cystic lesion in the liver. Four cases were complicated with a lung cyst, three with spondylodiscitis, three with splenic cyst, two with renal cyst, two with amoebic liver abscess, one with intraabdominal dissemination and one case was complicated with anaphylactic shock. Seven patients (46.7%) had leukocytosis and three (20%) had eosinophilia. All patients received treatment with albendazole p.o 2x400 mg tablets. The mean duration of treatment was 27.4 +/- 18.5 weeks. Conclusion: Hydatid cyst is an infectious disease that may cause severe organ involvement. Patients with hydatid cyst in any part of the body should be checked carefully for other system involvement, including the liver, abdominal and/ or retroperitoneal organs.