Robot-Assisted Nephron-Sparing Surgery of Renal Hydatid in Pregnancy: A Predicament in Management

Hydatid disease is a parasitic zoonosis caused by Echinococcus granulosus. Dog and other carnivores are the definitive hosts, which harbor adult worm. Humans are the accidental and dead-end hosts that acquire the infection by ingestion of eggs released from the intestinal tract of these carnivores, mainly dogs. The primary organ of echinococcosis in humans is the liver and lung, while the kidney is the third most commonly involved organ. Occurrence of hydatid disease of kidneys in isolation or with multiple organ involvement and their management has been reported and well described. The concurrent hydatidosis and pregnancy are an unusual clinical condition and poses a clinical challenge. In this study, we present a case of 36-year-old woman with symptomatic hydatid disease of the right kidney during the first trimester of pregnancy. A multidisciplinary team discusses the pros and cons of hydatid during pregnancy with the patient. After taking informed consent from the patient, she was effectively managed by medical termination of pregnancy followed by robot-assisted laparoscopic pericystectomy. The co-occurrence of symptomatic renal hydatid and pregnancy is quite unusual. Medical or surgical management of hydatid during pregnancy can have some detrimental effect on the fetus. Hence these patients could be managed with medical termination of pregnancy followed by robot-assisted nephron-sparing surgery. Robot-assisted surgery for the renal hydatids is safe and effective, and has a shorter learning curve.