Isolated splenıc hydatıd cyst  as  a rare cause of abdomınal paın

Yakup Yesilkaya¹*, Bozkurt Gulek², Turgut Tokmak¹

¹Department of Radiology, Kirsehir Ahi Evran University Hospital, Turkey.

²Department of Radiology, Adana Numune Teaching and Research Hospital, Turkey.

*Corresponding  author E-mail: dryakup23@hotmail.com; Phone: +90-386-213-45-15; Fax: +90-386-213-33-98  

Accepted 28 January, 2013

Abstract

Hydatid cyst (echinococcosis) is an endemic disease in certain parts of the world. It mostly affects the liver and the lung, but the spleen, too, may sometimes be the site of primary disease. Up to our knowledge, there is no reported case in the literature of any isolated splenic hydatid cyst which presented with  chronic abdominal pain. Our case is a female patient who applied to our hospital with the complaint of a long-standing chronic abdominal pain of a history of 3 years. Following her admittance to the hospital, she undertook a computed tomography (CT) examination of the abdomen. At CT, a thick-walled hydatid cystic mass with calcified membranes was detected at the spleen. The post-operative pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of an echinococcus cyst. Based on the experience we derive from this case, we suggest that a splenic hydatid cyst, even though it is a fairly low probability, must be considered in the differential diagnosis in patients who present with long-standing chronic abdominal pain.

Keywords: Isolated hydatid cyst, spleen, chronic abdominal pain.