title: [Imaging cardiac hydatid cysts: 8 cases].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early diagnosis of cardiac echinococcosis is required because this uncommon disease may lead to serious complications. We report 8 cases of cardiac hydatidosis, review the modes of diagnosis, and stress the contribution of modern imaging techniques.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study describes 8 patients with cardiac echinococcosis. All had chest radiographs and thoracic computed tomography (CT). Transthoracic sonography was performed in 6 cases and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 5.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our patients ranged in age from 7 to 46 years, and the clinical features of their disease varied. Chest radiography showed the contours of the heart to be deformed in 3 cases and cardiomegaly in 3 others. Echocardiography revealed a homogeneous unilocular hydatid cyst in 5 cases. CT found homogeneous hypodense unilocular lesions in 7 cases, and a septated cyst with cardiac wall calcifications in one case. MRI showed round homogeneous lesions in 3 cases, all dark in T1-weighted sequences and bright in T2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clinical features vary substantially, and clinical latency is not uncommon. Chest radiography generally shows mediastinal masses. Transthoracic echocardiography can locate and count cardiac hydatid cysts and identify their borders. CT can simultaneously assess any visceral extension of the disease, while MRI provides details of mediastinal extensions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Transthoracic echocardiography suggests the initial diagnosis. CT and MRI provide details of the location and extension of the cardiac hydatidosis.
authors.affiliation: Service d'imagerie médicale, Hôpital Mahmoud Matri, Ariana, Tunisie. oueslatiseddik@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Seddik
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oueslati
authors.forename: Wassim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Saïd
authors.forename: Imen
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saaidi
authors.forename: Mourad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Djebbi
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Charrada
authors.forename: Lamia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rezgui
authors.forename: Menif
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Najla
authors.forename: Mounira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Châabane
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed