title: Sudden death due to hydatid cyst: thirty-four medicolegal autopsy cases.
abstract: The natural history of the echinococcosis can be studded with multiple complications; the most formidable is sudden death. We studied the epidemiological, pathological, and thanatological features of 34 sudden deaths due to hydatid cyst. The mean age was 33.2 years. A male predominance was observed with a sex ratio of 1.8. Most of our victims were from rural areas (79.4%). Sudden death was preceded by prodromal symptoms in 61.7% of cases. The most common was dyspnea (23.5%), followed by hemoptysis (11.8%). In 85.3% of cases, the cyst location was liver. It was cracked in 25 cases and broken in 6 cases. The rupture was spontaneous in 25 cases (73%). It was preceded by trauma in 7 cases. Death was related to an anaphylactic shock in 82.3% of cases, infection in 14.7%, and respiratory distress in 3% of cases. Sudden death is a serious and not exceptional complication of hydatid cyst. Several mechanisms may explain the sudden death.
authors: From the Farhat Hached University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia.
authors: Maher
authors: M
authors: Jedidi
authors: Souheil
authors: S
authors: Mlayeh
authors: Tasnim
authors: T
authors: Masmoudi
authors: Mohamed Kamel
authors: MK
authors: Souguir
authors: Majed
authors: M
authors: Zemni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000707:Anaphylaxis / Q000401:mortality; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006469:Hemoptysis / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012421:Rupture / Q000453:epidemiology; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous / Q000453:epidemiology; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000401:mortality; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology