Splenic hydatidosis

This report is concerned with ten patients treated surgically for a splenic hydatidosis. Splenic echinococcosis represents 3.5% of abdominal hydatid cysts treated in our Service. When splenic hydatidosis was diagnosed, the spleen was the first and only localization of hydatid disease in three cases. One of these patients underwent surgery for a pulmonary cyst four years later. Splenic cysts were asymptomatic in six patients. The most frequent clinical sign of splenic hydatidosis was a painful mass in the left upper abdominal quadrant. Ultrasonography and axial computed tomography (axial C.T.) were the most useful diagnostic tools. The complications arising from splenic hydatidic cysts were infection, rupture in the abdominal cavity and fistulization to the colon. A splenectomy was performed in every case. There was no mortality and morbidity was principally related to the hepatic-associated hydatidosis. It is concluded that splenic involvement is a rare manifestation of hydatid disease but should be looked for in a systematic way in patients with this diagnosis.