Hydatid cyst organisms

Fig. 10.4. Potential development of a protoscolex of Echinococcus granulosus or E. multilocularis in different habitats. 1, In the dog gut, the scolex evaginates, the organism attaches to the mucosa, differentiates in a strobilar direction and develops into an adult tapeworm. 2, In vivo, if a hydatid cyst bursts or leaks (as during a surgical operation) each protoscolex can differentiate in a cystic direction and form a (secondary) hydatid cyst. (After Smyth, 1987b.)...

Losanoff, J.E., Richman, B.W., Jones, J.W. Organ-sparing surgical treatment of giant hepatic hydatid cysts. Amer. J. Surg. 2004 187 288-290... 

Hydatid disease is a common zoonosis caused by the larval cysts of Echinococcus granulosus. Hydatid cysts most commonly form in the liver, but can occur in any organ. The management and operative comphcations in 70 patients with hydatid disease aged 10-78 years have been studied retrospectively to assess the impact of albendazole and praziquantel compared with surgery (6). In all,... 

Albendazole 10 mg/kg/day has been used to treat cystic echinococcosis (hydatid disease) in 11 children aged 4—14 years, with at least 10 cysts in the same organ [8 ]. The children had a total of 296 cysts located mostly in the liver (178 cysts) and the lungs (78 cysts). With exclusive albendazole therapy, 58% of pulmonary cysts, 96% of peritoneal cysts, but only 32% of hepatic cysts were cured. There were no adverse events related to treatment, apart from slight rises in serum aminotransferase activities in two cases, which normalized without withdrawal of albendazole. The high rate of viable cysts after medical therapy is problematic and in this case was attributed to poor diffusion of albendazole into the cysts, because of their multiplicity and contiguity, variable sensitivity of each cyst to albendazole, and/or insufficient duration of treatment resistance to albendazole was unlikely. 

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