Hepatic hydatid cyst – diagnose and treatment algorithm

Introduction: the hydatic disease, caused by the larvae of Echinococcus granulosus, is a serious disease, potentially lethal, which can be found anywhere in the world, but especially in endemic areas such as the Mediterranean Basin, Australia, New Zealand, North Africa, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Middle East and South America. The hydatic cyst is mainly found in the liver (75% of the cases), being asymptomatic in most cases and discovered accidentally on a routine abdominal ultrasound or an ultrasound performed for diagnosing other pathologies. The hepatic hydatid cyst therapy is multimodal, including medical, surgical, and, lately, minimally invasive techniques. Materials and methods: 88 patients were diagnosed with liver hydatid cyst at the General Surgery Clinic of the Colentina Hospital in Bucharest where they were admitted from January 2014 to July 2017. Data collection was realized by consulting the patients’ observation sheets, followed by organizing a database of clinical, paraclinical and treatment parameters. Age, gender, place of origin, year and duration of admission, symptoms and signs at admission, paraclinical serological tests relevant for liver function and E. granulosus infection, imaging investigations performed and their results, type of treatment received and post-treatment progress with the complications that occurred were taken in account. Results: some of the results of the study showed some differences comparing to the data from specialty literature, the possible causes being the small number of patients, the paraclinical examinations that were not sufficiently detailed to allow the study of a phenomenon in all its complexity, the lack of information from the patients’ first presentation to a doctor or from their previous admissions. Conclusions: patients with hepatic hydatid cyst form a heterogeneous group, semiology being poor and unspecific. Among the laboratory examinations, eosinophilia is a sign of concern but is present in less than half of the patients. Imaging findings are the basis for the diagnosis of hepatic hydatid cysts. Surgical treatment remains the “gold standard” in therapy, but minimally invasive methods with high applicability, less frequent complications and lower hospital requirements are starting to gain ground.