Sudden death due to an unrecognized cardiac hydatid cyst: three medicolegal autopsy cases.

Echinococcosis is a human infection caused by the larval stage of Echinococcocus granulosus. The most common sites of infection are the liver and the lungs. Cardiac hydatid cysts are very rare, even in regions where hydatic cysts are endemic (the Mediterranean, South America, Africa, and Australia). It has been reported that cardiac involvement is seen in about 0.5-3% of human echinococcosis cases. Three cases of cardiac hydatid disease that caused sudden death and which were histopathologically diagnosed are reported. Cardiac echinococcosis is rare, but due to its insidious presentation and affinity to cause sudden death, it is important that it be identified in the histopathological examination.