A rare case of bilateral para-rectal hydatid disease: A case report

Cystic hydatidosis is a parasitic infection caused by the organism Echinococcus Granulosus that is well known to be endemic in the Mediterranean region, eastern Europe and South America and usually presents as hydatid disease of the liver but may affect other organs. The disease occurs when humans become the accidental host through ingestion of the eggs from contaminated food.

We present a case of Hydatid disease presenting as hives refractory to medical therapy over 4 years duration which was revealed to be caused by para-rectal hydatid cysts. Patient received Albendazole for a duration of 2.5 months and then underwent laparoscopic resection of the para-rectal cysts.

Pelvic Hydatidosis is a very rare condition accounting for 0.7 % of all cases reported. In most cases, it is coexistent with cysts present elsewhere in the body, namely the liver, which is the case in the presented patient. Imaging is used as a modality to establish the diagnosis of cystic hydatidosis namely Ultrasound (US), Computerized Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The incidental finding of the hydatid cysts in this patient demonstrated the efficiency of a CT scan as a tool for detection and subsequently diagnosis of the disease in the pelvis. Surgery is the treatment of choice for cysts with daughter vesicles that are not candidates for percutaneous drainage, large liver hydatid cysts of more than 10 cm in diameter, cysts with a risk of rupture in case of trauma, and extrahepatic disease such as the lung, bone, brain, kidneys or pelvis.

This article reports the rare occurrence of para-rectal hydatid disease which is only described in few case reports in the literature and provides an overview on diagnosis, and management of the disease.