Isolated Hydatid Cyst of the Breast

Abstract

Although common in sheep-breeding communities, hydatid disease is actually found worldwide. Man is an occasional intermediate host in whom the disease is manifested by the presence of one or more hydatid cysts, usually located in the liver or lung and rarely at other sites such as the breast, as in our patient. A case of an isolated breast involvement that was diagnosed during surgery is presented and is followed by a brief discussion on the topic.

Isolated Primary Hydatid Cyst of Breast: A Case Report and Preoperative Diagnosis

“…It was reported that a majority of secondary cysts occurred due to the rupture of the cyst in the liver. The breast can be a primary site or part of a disseminated hydatidosis [4,5] .…”

“…Preoperative diagnosis can be made by fine needle aspiration cytology where scoleces, hooklets or laminated membrane can be identified. It is a safe procedure, as no complications were mentioned in the literature [5,12] .…”

“…Breast hydatid cysts are rare, even in endemic regions [3] . Breast Hydatid disease may be isolated, or it may be a part of disseminated hydatidosis [4,5] .…”

Obstructive jaundice secondary to postsurgical persistent residual hydatid ectocyst of left lobe of liver

“…Although fine-needle aspiration cytology in diagnosis of echinococcosis is documented as a safe procedure in literature, that can demonstrate scoleces, hooklets or laminated membrane [3,[10][11][12][13], but it is not commonly used in the suspected cases as has happened in the present case. If it had been employed in our patient, the residual ectocyst might have resolved after 1-2 ultrasound-guided percutaneous aspirations and the patient might have been saved off a major operation.…”

“…Liver is the most commonly affected organ (70%), followed by the lung (20%) and other organs such as brain, thyroid, spleen, pancreas, gallbladder, etc. (10%) [1][2][3][4].…”