Disseminated hydatid disease causing paraplegia and destruction of the hip

A patient who had had been treated by surgery for spinal echinococcosis in a Mediterranean country emigrated to northern Europe. After surgery, the echinococcosis disseminated and he developed chronic lytic and sinus-draining hydatid disease of the left hip and neuromuscular weakness of the left lower extremity. Seventeen years after the spinal surgery, he was referred to our hip service for a possible total hip replacement (THR) after receiving adequate chemotherapy against echinococcosis for nearly 3 years. Because of the poor results reported by others, we decided against THR; two of the four previous patients described in the current literature who had THR died due to complications.