CLINICAL FEATURES OF LIVER HYDATIDOSIS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Hydatidosis is a disease affecting most commonly liver and lungs and belongs to the list of the top 17 neglected tropical diseases. Hydatid disease is caused by the infection that, in humans, is due to the larval stage of the Echinococcus granulosus, more specifically by the complex of subtypes that give it the name, Echinococcus multilocularis or Echinococcus Vogeli. These complexes generate cystic hydatid disease characterized by unilocular cystic lesions. The disease spreads mostly in geographical areas with a large amount of livestock, and it is closely associated with dogs. The mechanic action produced on the tissues by the progressive growth of the cyst – even if with certain limitations – relates to the entity of the symptomatology. If the echinococcal cysts become slowly enlarged, they remain asymptomatic until their expanding size - or the effect provoked by their enlargement in an involved organ - generates symptoms. The diagnosis is based on refined imagistics (liver ultrasonography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging or Computed Tomography) and serology. The prognosis is favorable in cases of unique cyst in a location where it is easily removed by surgical intervention or if it positively responds to pharmacological treatment or to percutaneous techniques.