Cardiac involvement of Echinococcus granulosus evaluated by multi-contrast CMR imaging

Cardiac manifestations of hydatid cysts are rare and occur in about 0.2 to 3% of all cases of human hydatidosis. We report the case of a young man with a known 4-year old infection with Echinoccus granulosus. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) was performed and showed two cysts in the left ventricular wall. The smaller cyst had a thin, noncontinuous membrane to the left ventricle. The T1- and T2-weighted images showed an isointense signal of the cysts compared to blood; fat-suppressed images showed no fatty components. To highlight the potential small signal differences we assigned the contents of the gray images to red, green and blue channels of a conventional color image. Blood and the content of the cysts had the same color, making a connection between the cysts and the LV blood pool highly probable. This was confirmed by first pass perfusion imaging, which showed simultaneous contrast agent arrival in the left ventricular cavity and the cysts. Delayed enhancement (DE) revealed fibrotic tissue surrounding the cysts. MR seems to be the most complete method of diagnosing the disease, as anatomical structures, type of content of the cyst (liquid or solid) and its relation to the myocardium can be assessed within one study.