Musculoskeletal and adipose tissue hydatidosis based on the iatrogenic spreading of cystic fluid during surgery: Report of a case

Hydatidosis or echinococcosis is a parasitic disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus or E. multilocularis, which forms cysts in the liver and lung a fter penetrating the duodenal mucosa and entering the portal circulation. T he liver and lung act as a filter but some embryos enter the general circul ation and disseminate throughout the body. Muscoloskeletal involvement is a rare manifestation of hydatidosis, which is usually reported to affect a s ingle muscle. We report here a rare case of a 68-year-old man with widespre ad hydatidosis of the retroperitoneum and the subcutaneous adipose tissue, and with multiple muscle involvement in the absence of liver, lung, and spl een involvement. The patient underwent surgical excision of a subcutaneous hydatid cyst 7 years earlier. It is likely that the large dissemination of parasites resulted from accidental rupture of the primary focus during surg ery with consequent release and spreading of scolices via lymphatics.