Resection of intrathoracic and subdiaphragmatic hydatid cysts

The goal of surgical therapy in pulmonary hydatid disease is to remove the cyst while preserving as much lung tissue as possible. The surgical method may be different in the intact (simple) and ruptured (complicated) cysts. The operation has two steps: a) removal of the germinative layer, b) management of the residual pulmonary cavity. Simple cysts are generally removed after needle aspiration or enucleation without needle aspiration. Enucleation cannot be performed in ruptured cysts. The lung cavity that remains after removal of the cyst may be left as it is or obliterated by sutures from within the cavity in regard to the size and location of the cyst. However, the bronchial openings in the cavity must be closed by sutures in all cases. Rarely, hydatid cysts can occur in other thoracic structures such as pulmonary artery, chest wall or diaphragm. Those cysts located on the liver dome are operated by transthoracic-transdiaphragmatic approach. The surgical methods performed for the resection of hydatid cysts located in the chest or in the subdiaphragmatic area are presented with an overview of the literature.