Thoracic aortic involvement in cystic echinococcosis: A case report

Cystic echinococcosis is a common parasitic disease in some areas and involves different organs with different presentations. Rural areas in our country are endemic with this disease. We present a case of echinococcal aortic involvement that was diagnosed incidentally by a routine chest radiogram as a mediastinal mass. Cystic echinococcosis was established as final diagnosis after magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ELISA studies. The patient was treated surgically through a thoracotomy and her aortic defect was repaired during the operation. She has been asymptomatic and complication free in physical examination and imaging study in follow up periods after two years. Awareness of various presentations of the disease is necessary for physicians who are occupied in endemic areas. It is rational to treat echinococcal cysts adjacent to the great vessels with the cooperation of a vascular surgeon.