Nonparasitic abdominal serous cysts. A multiple case report

A group of 35 patients with nonparasitic abdominal serous cysts is reviewed in order to investigate the diagnostic and therapeutic features of these rare conditions. In most cases the cysts were localised in the liver. Other localisations were the kidney (9 cases), the mesenteric area (2 cases), the adrenals (2 cases), the spleen and the pancreas (one case each). The clinical symptoms were essentially determinated by the size of the cysts, regardless their visceral localisation. Ultrasonography was the most efficient procedure for their detection, although this method's precision for the visceral localisation of the cysts was not entirely reliable (6 errors). The low incidence of such abnormalities as well as the absence of any relevant diagnostic elements for establishing the nonparasitic character of the cysts, favoured the confusions with nonproliferous hydatid cysts, especially in cases of solitary cysts (7 patients). The most frequently used surgical procedures were partial cystectomy (18 cases) and total cystectomy (8 cases). A personal technique based on obliteration of the cavity with the bulging wall of the cysts, was used in two patients. When choosing the surgical procedure, the size, site and number of cysts were considered. Immediate and late postoperative results were very good.