The management of a complicated brain hydatid cyst: case report

A 26-year-old female patient under albendazole treatment because of multiple liver and lung hydatid cysts was admitted with headache and convulsions. Bilateral papilloedema and slight right hemiparesis were observed in neurological examination. Neuroradiological evaluation revealed a cystic lesion causing midline shift and oedema in the left frontal lobe. The cyst was removed unruptured using Dowling's technique and postoperative outcome was uneventful. Albendazole therapy was continued due to systemic infection. In her second month of follow-up, she suffered from severe headache and abundant haemoptysis. Control cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a ring-shaped slightly contrast-enhancing lesion including heterogeneous fibrillary ingredient with surrounding oedema in the left frontal lobe. The further follow-up cranial MRI suggested brain abscess.We present a complicated case of brain hydatid cyst and its management with a successful outcome.