Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Paediatric, Spleen, Thorax, CT, MR, Ultrasound, Diagnostic procedure, Parasites, Not applicable, Performed at one institution
Authors:
M. Becircic1, I. Sefic-Pasic1, D. Bulja1, O. Ali Abud2, S. Vegar-Zubovic1; 1Sarajevo/BA, 2Sarajevo, sarajevo/BA
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2020/C-11002
Background
Hydatid disease is a zoonotic disease caused by tapeworms of the genus Echinococcus with high prevalence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Among all types of Echinococcus, Echinococcus granulosus is the most common type.
Humans become infected by a fecal-oral route, with ingestion of food or water contaminated with feces of the definitive host, usually a dog. The life cycle of Echinococcus includes the intermediate host, usually a sheep. Worms in their adult form live in the upper part of the dog's bowel, which than expels feces containing parasitic eggs. The intermediate host becomes infected while grazing on contaminated land. In the human body, the eggs are digested in the duodenum, and then the larvae pass through the system of the portal vein to the liver, which is the first and the most commonly affected organ in adults. However, any other organ can be affected as well.
A hydatid cyst is composed of three layers: the outer layer is the pericyst, the middle layer is the acellular membrane, and the inner layer is the endocyst.
Most commonly, hydatid disease is acquired in childhood, and is usually asymptomatic. Symptomatic form of the disease is a consequence of the rupture or the infection, or is due to a mass effect on the surrounding structures.
Surgery, medical therapy and interventional procedures are treatment options. The primary goal of each treatment option is a complete elimination of the parasite with minimum morbidity and mortality. Medical therapy includes the following drugs: medendazol, albendazol and praziquantel. Surgery (fig 7. and 8.) is the treatment of choice for a majority of hydatid cysts, because it represents the only treatment option which allows total eradication of hydatid cyst and prevents development of its complications.