Primary hydatid disease of the occipital bone presenting as space occupying cystic mass of the posterior fossa

Brain involvement of hydatid disease accounts for 1 to 4% of all cases. Extra-Dural, intra-calvarial location is even less. We report, a 24 years old woman with primary intracalvarial hydatid cyst that presented as an extradural cystic mass lesion of the posterior fossa. In the case presented, removal of the pathology without rupture could not be achieved. As same with the other locations, hydatid cysts of calvaria must be tried to be removed without rupture when possible. However, this exceptional host, the calvaria, seems to ease the pre-mature rupture of the cyst due to the neighboring sharp edges of the bone. In such situations, excessive irrigation with hyper-tonic solutions, %3 NaCl for example, is known to be effective for preventing dissemination. Pre-operative diagnosis is very important for surgical planning. Extra-dural locations of cystic lesions must remind the surgeon hydatid cysts especially in the countries where the disease is more common.

___

  • Beskonakli, E., Solaroglu, I., Tun, K., Albayrak, L., 2005. Primary intracranial hydatid cyst in the interpeduncular cistern. Acta. Neurochir. 147, 781-783.
  • Beşkonakli, E., Cayli, S., Yalçinlar, Y., 1996. Primary intracranial extradural hydatid cyst extending above and below the tentorium. Br. J. Neurosurg. 10, 315-316.
  • Carrea, R., Dowling, E. Jr., Guevara, A., 1975. Surgical treatment of hydatid cysts of the central nervous system in the pediatric age (Dowling’s technique). Child’s Brain. 1, 4-21.
  • Ciurea, A.V., Fountas, K.N., Coman, T.C., Machinis, T.G., Kapsalaki, E.Z., Fezoulidis, N.I., Robinson, J.S., 2006. Long-term surgical outcome in patients with intracranial hydatid cyst. Acta. Neurochir. 148, 421-426.
  • Erman, T., Tuna, M., Göçer, I., Ildan, F., Zeren, M., Cetinalp, E., 2001. Intracranial intraosseous hydatid cyst. Case report and review of literature. Neurosurg. Focus. 11, ECP1.
  • Erşahin, Y., Mutluer, S., Güzelbağ, E., 1993. Intracranial hydatid cysts in children. Neurosurgery. 33, 219-224.
  • Furtado, S.V., Visvanathan, K., Nandita, G., Reddy, K., Hegde, A.S., 2009. Multiple fourth ventricular hydatidosis. J. Clin. Neurosci. 16, 110-112.
  • Is, M., Gezen, F., Akyuz, F., Aytekin, H., Dosoglu, M., 2009. A 13-year-old girl with a cystic cerebellar lesion: Consider the hydatid cyst. J. Clin. Neurosci. 16, 712-713.
  • Kayaoglu, C.R., 2008. Giant hydatid cyst in the posterior fossa of a child: A case report. J. Int. Med. Res. 36, 198-202.
  • Krajewski, R., Stelmasiak, Z., 1991. Cerebral hydatid cysts in children. Childs Nerv. Syst. 7, 154-155.
  • Kitis, O., Calli, C., Yunten, N., 2004. Report of Diffusion-Weighted MRI in two cases with different cerebral hydatid disease. Acta. Radiol. 45, 85-87.
  • Lunardi, P., Missori, P., Lorenzo, N.D., Fortuna, A., 1991. Cerebral hydatidosis in childhood: A retrospective survey with emphasis on long-term follow-up. Neurosurg. 29, 515-518.
  • McManus, D.P., Zhang, W., Li J., Bartley, P.B., 2003. Echinococcosis. Lancet. 362, 1295-1304.
  • Oktar, N., Karabıyıkoğlu, M., Demirtaş, E., Altıntaş, N., Korkmaz, M., Özdamar, N., 1999. Cerebral alveolar Echinococcosis. Review of the literature and report of a case. J.Neurol.Sci.Turk. 161-164.
  • Polat, P., Kantarci, M., Alper, F., Suma, S., Koruyucu, M.B., Okur, A., 2003. Hydatid disease from head to toe. Radiographics. 23, 475-494.