[Lethal rupture of an echinococcal cyst of the liver].

A 50-year-old man is admitted to the hospital emergency service because of a 24-hour history of right abdominal pain. Ultrasound examination and laboratory tests suggest the perforation of an Echinococcal cyst situated in the subcapsular area of the right hepatic lobe. The patient and his family refuse the recommended hospitalisation and operation and leave the hospital on their own responsibility. 60 hours later the patient dies. Post-mortem examination confirms the diagnosis of a perforated hydatid cyst of the right hepatic lobe. The cause of death was a partly fibrino-purulent, partly nodular peritonitis including the area of liver rupture.