title: Diagnosis and treatment of cardiac echinococcosis.
abstract: Cardiac echinococcosis is a rare manifestation of cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus Among all patients suffering from CE, only 0.5%-2% exhibit a cardiac involvement. In addition, during the past years the number of CE cases reported in Western Europe remained roughly unchanged. However, we postulate that cases of CE in Western Europe will increase due to a growing number of refugees coming from endemic areas such as Southern Europe, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Importantly, although cardiac echinococcosis is rare the disease can lead to many clinical complications, for instance acute heart failure and life-threatening arrhythmias. With respect to the increasing relevance of cardiac echinococcosis in Western Europe and the danger of fulminant disease courses, here we review diagnosis strategies and treatment options of the disease. Diagnosis of cardiac echinococcosis requires a detailed evaluation of the patients' case history, specific laboratory analyses and radiological imaging methods. Ultrasound, MRI and CT are key imaging tools for diagnosis, therapy control, prognosis estimation and disease course control. For the therapy of cardiac echinococcosis, a combination of surgical removal and drug treatment should be applied to symptomatic as well as asymptomatic patients. The complete surgical removal of the cyst(s) is the major prognosis factor of the cardiac manifestation of CE.
authors.affiliation: HELIOS Clinical Medical Center Köthen, Köthen, Germany Department of Cardiology, HELIOS Clinical Medical Center Köthen, Köthen, Germany.
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kahlfuß
authors.affiliation: HELIOS Clinical Medical Center Köthen, Köthen, Germany Department of Cardiology, HELIOS Clinical Medical Center Köthen, Köthen, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert Rainer
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Flieger
authors.affiliation: HELIOS Clinical Medical Center Köthen, Köthen, Germany Department of Cardiology, HELIOS Clinical Medical Center Köthen, Köthen, Germany Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Torsten Kai
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Roepke
authors.affiliation: HELIOS Clinical Medical Center Köthen, Köthen, Germany Department of Cardiology, HELIOS Clinical Medical Center Köthen, Köthen, Germany.
authors.forename: Kadir
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000923:Anticestodal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000628:therapy*; D048209:Echinococcus granulosus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000923:Anticestodal Agents