Complete excision of giant clavicular hydatid cyst: a case report

BACKGROUND: Echinococcosis, also known as hydatid disease, is a zoonotic parasitic disease prevalent in pastoral areas, mainly involving the liver and lungs, and less frequently the bones and surrounding soft tissues. Diagnosis and treatment of bone hydatid disease is a challenge, and because of the insidious course of the disease, the lesions are often widely disseminated by the time patients seek medical attention. CASE PRESENTATION: A 29-year-old woman presented with a painless mass that was gradually increasing in size in the cervical thorax. Imaging revealed an enlarged clavicle with multiple bone cortical defects and the existence of cysts in the soft tissues surrounding the clavicle, for which complete excision of the clavicle and the attached cysts was performed. There was no recurrence of the cyst within one year after the operation, and the patient felt well and had normal shoulder joint movement. CONCLUSIONS: Bone hydatid may appear in bones throughout the body, and cysts that leak from the bone into the surrounding soft tissues may spread at a relatively rapid rate. Prompt surgical removal of the affected bone and surrounding cysts is necessary for treatment.