title: An Incidental Finding of Heart Echinococcosis in a Patient with Infective Endocarditis: a Case Report.
abstract: Echinococcosis is a cosmopolitan zoonotic parasitic disease caused by infection with the larval stage of tapeworms from the Echinococcus genus, most commonly Echinococcus granulosus. According to WHO, more than 1 million people are affected by hydatid disease at any time.1 About 10% of the annual cases are not officially diagnosed.2 In humans, the disease is characterized by development of three-layered cysts. The cysts develop primarily in the liver and the lungs, but can also affect any other organ due to the spreading of the oncospheres. Cardiac involvement is very uncommon - only about 0.01-2% of all cases.4,5 In most cases, the cysts develop asymptomatically, but heart cysts could manifest with chest pain, dyspnea, cough, hemophtisis and can complicate with rupture. Diagnosis is based on a number of imaging techniques and positive serological tests. Treatment for cardiac localization is almost exclusively surgical. We present a case of an incidental finding of an echinococcal cyst in the left atrium (rarest possible localization of heart echinococcosis) in a patient, admitted for infective endocarditis.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Cardiology, St George University Hospital, 66 Peshtersko Shose Blvd., 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Dolina G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Gencheva
authors.affiliation: Section of Nephrology, Department of Internal Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Dimitar N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Menchev
authors.affiliation: Section of Endoscopic Endocrine Surgery and Coloproctology, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Sofia University «Sv. Kliment Ohridski», Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Dimitar K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Penchev
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Cardiology, St George University Hospital, 66 Peshtersko Shose Blvd., 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Mariya P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Tokmakova
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications; D002481:Cellulitis / Q000150:complications; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004452:Echocardiography; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D004696:Endocarditis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D033162:Incidental Findings; D008297:Male; D008943:Mitral Valve; D008946:Mitral Valve Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014262:Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
keywords: echinococcal cyst; echinococcosis; heart echinococcosis; hydatid disease; infective endocarditis