Right diaphragmatic hernia is a rare injury (0.25-1%) following blunt abdominal trauma. The diagnosis may be delayed and achieved years after the trauma during laparotomies for other reasons. A 75-year-old male fell 6 years before, and was symptom-free since then. He was admitted to the hospital for abdominal pain, and chest X-rays revealed intestinal gas in the lower right thoracal region. Abdominal ultrasonography showed agenesis of the gallbladder, and computed tomography demonstrated that the right upper abdominal viscera were located in the vicinity of the heart. The patient underwent a laparotomy for right diaphragmatic hernia, and the right hepatic lobe and the medial segment of the left lobe, the gall bladder, the proximal part of the transverse colon, the omentum and some segments of the intestine were dislocated into the thoracal cavity by a tear in the right diaphragm. The organs were returned to the abdominal cavity uneventfully and the defect in the diaphragm, measuring 10 x 5 cm, was repaired by unabsorbable sutures. The diagnosis, surgical treatment and postoperative course of the right diaphragmatic hernia is discussed with a review of the literature.

Introduction: Human hydatid disease is a parasitic infection caused by the larval form of Echinococcus granulosus. It has worldwide distribution and is endemic in many countries, especially the Mediterranean region. It most commonly affects the liver and lungs although multi-organ involvement has been observed in 20-30% of patients. Case report: A 45-year-old woman presented to a gynaecologist because of a mass in the axillary region. Her mother and her two sisters were undergoing treatment for breast cancer. In her examination, a hard, semi-mobile, painless mass was found that was approximately 3 cm in diameter. Axillary ultrasonography showed lymphadenopathy. No abnormality was found in mammographic examination of either breast, or in abdominal ultrasonography and chest X-ray. Occult breast cancer was suspected but when the mass was excised for pathological examination the biopsy showed a hydatid cyst with germinative membranes. Subsequent lung, abdomen and brain tomography scans, whole body bone scintigraphy and hydatid serology, including indirect haemagglutination and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, were negative. For these reasons an isolated axillary hydatid cyst was diagnosed. Conclusion: Parasitic cysts should be considered in endemic areas in patients presenting with a soft tissue mass in the axillary region. Imaging methods should be planned to include this possibility.

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