Diagnostic value of ultrasonography in hydatid disease in abdomen and chest.

A prospective diagnosis of hydatid cyst was made in 90 cases involving abdomen and chest. It was based on the various sonographic signs of hydatid disease described in the literature. Surgery was performed in 60 patients while 30 were lost to follow-up. The diagnosis was confirmed in 55 patients while it was false positive in 5. The liver was the most common organ involved, followed by chest, kidney, peritoneum, spleen and retroperitoneum. Separation of the membrane from the wall, multiple daughter cysts, and collapsed cysts, were found to be diagnostic of hydatid disease. It is stressed that certain signs are specific for hydatid disease and thus do not cause any differential diagnostic problems.