Obstructive Jaundice Associated with a Hydatid Cyst of the Pancreas

Clinical considerations of primary hydatid disease of the pancreas

“…A hydatid cyst located in the head of the pancreas, manifested with obstructive jaundice due to the extrinsic compression of the common bile duct, represents a rare clinical entity. To date only a few cases of hydatid cyst in the head of the pancreas presenting with obstructive jaundice have been reported in the literature [10,12] . In the patient with concurrent hydatid disease of the liver and the pancreas, the episode of sudden fainting was attributed to mild anaphylactic shock.…”

“…The liver and lungs are the organs most frequently involved in human echinococcosis (80-90%) [5,6] . However, according to the putative mechanisms of dissemination, mainly by hematological and rarely by retroperitoneal spread, the parasite could appear and grow in various locations [7][8][9][10] .The pancreas is considered a rare, atypical location of a hydatid cyst. The embryos from a hydatid cyst end up in the pancreas mainly by hematological spread and the reported incidence ranges between 0.19 and 2% [4,11].…”