Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Abdomen, Head and neck, Breast, CT, MR, Ultrasound, Diagnostic procedure, Cysts, Parasites, Infection
Authors:
H. Jaafar1, N. chouchane2, C. Kerkeni1, Z. Houneida2, F. bouzayene2, S. Majdoub2, D. Bakir2; 1MONASTIR/TN, 2sousse/TN
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2019/C-2227
Background
Echinococcosis (or hydatid disease) is the widest spread serious human parasitic infection in the world caused by a cestode: Echinococcus granulosus.
It is endemic in areas with tropical or subtropical climates particularly in the mediterranean region,
South America,
Africa and Australia due to the close association between humans and domestic animals (1).
Hydatid disease,
common in Mediterranean countries,
still remains endemic in Tunisia.
Man is an accidental,
intermediate host,
and infection of humans represents a terminal event for the parasite. In fact,
humans become infected through contact with definite host or consumption of contaminated food.
After it enters the body,
larval stage of Echinococcus parasite forms cysts.
Since the cysts are slowly growing,
the symptoms are seen several years after primary infection.
According to the literature,
hydatid disease may develop in almost any part of the body.
The liver is the most frequently involved organ (75%),
followed by the lung (15%) and the remainder of the body (2).
Primary rare localizations of parasitosis range approximately from 5% to 30% but the exact incidence of unusual locations is difficult to ascertain as they are only reported as few sporadic cases (3).