Abstract

Objective: Hydatid cyst disease, endemic in Eastern region of Turkey, is a significant parasitic public health problem. In this study, pleural complications of hydatid cysts were presented in 76 cases.

Materials and Methods: In our study, of the 412 pulmonary hydatid cyst cases operated on between 2003 and 2011, 76 cases had ruptured into the pleura for various reasons, and the different clinico-radiological presentations were evaluated retrospectively. The age distribution of the cases was between 7 and 56 years, and the mean age was 26.20±13.04.

Results: The most frequent symptom due to pleural rupture in patients was dyspnea (44 cases, 57.8%). Etiologically, iatrogenic perforation was detected in four cases and thoracic trauma in nine cases (six car accidents and three falls from a height). An anthelmintic drug use history was found in three cases of ruptured pleura. Spontaneous perforation was detected in the other 60 (78.9%) cases. Two cases that were admitted to the emergency unit and were immediately administered a tube thoracostomy developed tension pneumothorax. In addition, 21 cases had hydropneumothorax, 17 had pneumothorax, and 36 had pleurisy. Morbidity was observed in 30 cases (39.4%). Atelectasis was the most frequent cause of morbidity in these patients (10 cases). The mean duration of hospitalization was determined to be 12.26±2.90 days.

Conclusion: This disease can progress asymptomatically for a long time and can sometimes lead to life-threatening emergency situations, such as tension pneumothorax. The delayed admission of a patient to a physician causes the disease to become more complicated and to increase the morbidity and mortality rates. Treatment of the disease is in the form of surgery. Possible parenchymal protection should be applied in surgical treatment, and anatomic resection should not be performed unless necessary.