[Hydatid cyst of the kidney (apropos of 45 cases)]

Based on a series of 45 cases of renal hydatid cysts, the authors present a general review of the multiple aspects of this rare disease. The mean age at the time of diagnosis is 30 years with a slight female predominance. Renal hydatid cyst often has a suggestive clinical presentation (flank mass in 84% of cases, pain in 73% of cases) and sometimes a specific presentation (hydatiduria in 29% of cases). The authors emphasise the value of laboratory tests, bearing in mind that serology is positive in about one half of cases (57%) and prefer ultrasonography and computed tomography to arteriography for the diagnosis of renal hydatid cyst. Surgical treatment is now well defined. A lumbar incision is performed in 60% of cases and an anterior incision is used in 40% of cases. Conservative treatment occupies a predominant place (84.5% of cases), as resection of the prominent dome is usually sufficient. Total nephrectomy should only be considered in the case of a completely destroyed kidney (15.5% of cases). The postoperative course is generally uneventful and re-expansion of the rénal parenchyma is observed in 78% of cases, indicating the benign nature of this disease.