Cystic echinococcosis of the bone.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) has a wide world distribution causing important morbidity. Osseous involvement is present in less than 4% of the CE cases. Its diagnosis and therapeutic management is full of challenges and low grade of evidence.

RECENT FINDINGS: The study summarizes literature evidence on the management of osseous CE with particular emphasis on new data regarding diagnosis and treatment.

SUMMARY: Clinical presentation of osseous CE depends on the skeletal area affected. Diagnosis is mostly based on radiological findings and serology. Recent advances with qPCR on osseous tissue samples seem to be a good option for diagnosis confirmation. Complete resection of the cystic lesion is the only curative option, but it is usually not possible performing palliative surgery and prolonged albendazole intake in most cases. Radiotherapy could be an option, but experience to date is only based on clinical cases.