[Imaging diagnosis in echinococcosis of the liver]

Liver echinococcosis, the most frequently occurring form of parasitosis, is caused by the following two types of tapeworm: echinococcus granulosus and echinococcus multilocularis. Both types are to be found in Austria, the latter even being endemic. Imaging techniques such as computed tomography and sonography enable the diagnosis to be made easily, quickly and accurately, although the number of conditions to be considered in the differential diagnosis is considerable. A comparison of the two methods in 32 patients, 25 with echinococcus multilocularis and 7 with echinococcus granulosus demonstrates that ultrasound is slightly inferior to computed tomography. However, ultrasound should be the primary method of investigation and is of great importance in follow-up, whilst computed tomography is necessary pre-operatively to assess the extrahepatic involvement.