🥚 Gastrointestinal🟢 BasicLiver and Biliary Tract

Hydatid Disease

A cystic disease caused by the larva of a dog tapeworm, most often forming slow-growing cysts in the liver.

Key points

Hydatid disease is caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, whose adult lives in dogs.
Humans become an accidental host by swallowing eggs from dog faeces, and sheep are the usual intermediate host.
The larva forms a slowly growing fluid-filled cyst, most often in the liver and next most often in the lung.
The cyst has layers and may contain daughter cysts, and it grows silently for years before causing pressure symptoms.
Leakage or rupture of a cyst can release fluid that causes a severe allergic reaction, so cysts are handled with great care.

Memory trick

Hydatid is the larva of Echinococcus granulosus (adult in dogs, sheep the intermediate host); humans swallow eggs and grow a slow fluid cyst in the liver (then lung) with daughter cysts; rupture causes severe allergy.

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🥚 Gastrointestinal🟢 BasicLiver and Biliary Tract

Hydatid Disease

A cystic disease caused by the larva of a dog tapeworm, most often forming slow-growing cysts in the liver.

Key points

Hydatid disease is caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, whose adult lives in dogs.
Humans become an accidental host by swallowing eggs from dog faeces, and sheep are the usual intermediate host.
The larva forms a slowly growing fluid-filled cyst, most often in the liver and next most often in the lung.
The cyst has layers and may contain daughter cysts, and it grows silently for years before causing pressure symptoms.
Leakage or rupture of a cyst can release fluid that causes a severe allergic reaction, so cysts are handled with great care.

Memory trick

All of General Surgery More Gastrointestinal