Clinical and radiological manifestations of 206 patients with pulmonary hydatidosis over a ten-year period.

AIM: Pulmonary hydatidosis is a major health problem, particularly in Mediterranean countries, and manifests with different clinical and radiological forms. The aim of this study was to identify specific characteristics of the disease.

METHODS

We studied the clinical and radiological manifestations of 206 patients who were operated on for pulmonary hydatidosis in our institution between January 1993 and December 2002.

RESULTS

The clinical presentations were: cough in 112 patients (54%); chest pain in 75 patients (36%); dyspnoea in 52 (25%); haemoptysis in 39 (19%); fever and chills in 21 (10%); hydatidemesis in 21 (10%); pleuritis in 11 (5%); and spontaneous pneumothorax in seven patients (3%). Chest radiograph (CXR) and computerised tomography (CT) established the diagnosis in 184 patients (89%). Twenty-two patients (11%) manifested with nonspecific pulmonary shadows.

CONCLUSION

Hydatid cyst disease has many clinical and radiological forms which should be recognized and included in the differential diagnosis of many pulmonary problems.