Cardiac echinococcosis. Echocardiographic diagnosis with a fatal clinical outcome

Abstract

Hydatid disease HD is an endemic disease found in various regions of the world. The organs mostly affected are the liver and lung. Cardiac involvement in HD is rare. The symptoms are mainly due to the mass effect of the calcific hydatid cyst obstructing the blood or the lymphatic vessels. Other manifestations are secondary infection or cyst rupture in the involved organ. Here, we report a middle aged female patient with no history of medical illness who presented to the emergency room with an unrecordable blood pressure. Echocardiogram showed multiple calcific cysts of echinococcosis granulosa in the left ventricle cavity. In the clinical setting, where there is detection of HD elsewhere in the body, an echocardiogram is mandatory as cardiac involvement is serious and may be fatal.