[Imaging cardiac hydatid cysts: 8 cases]

Early diagnosis of cardiac echinococcosis is required because this uncommon disease may lead to serious complications. We report 8 cases of cardiac hydatidosis, review the modes of diagnosis, and stress the contribution of modern imaging techniques.

This retrospective study describes 8 patients with cardiac echinococcosis. All had chest radiographs and thoracic computed tomography (CT). Transthoracic sonography was performed in 6 cases and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 5.

Our patients ranged in age from 7 to 46 years, and the clinical features of their disease varied. Chest radiography showed the contours of the heart to be deformed in 3 cases and cardiomegaly in 3 others. Echocardiography revealed a homogeneous unilocular hydatid cyst in 5 cases. CT found homogeneous hypodense unilocular lesions in 7 cases, and a septated cyst with cardiac wall calcifications in one case. MRI showed round homogeneous lesions in 3 cases, all dark in T1-weighted sequences and bright in T2.

Clinical features vary substantially, and clinical latency is not uncommon. Chest radiography generally shows mediastinal masses. Transthoracic echocardiography can locate and count cardiac hydatid cysts and identify their borders. CT can simultaneously assess any visceral extension of the disease, while MRI provides details of mediastinal extensions.

Transthoracic echocardiography suggests the initial diagnosis. CT and MRI provide details of the location and extension of the cardiac hydatidosis.