HYDATID-DISEASE OF THE SPINE - A SURVEY STUDY FROM TURKEY

Spinal hydatid disease is rare, even in rural areas where echinococcos is is endemic. Although the liver and lungs are commonly involved, spi nal hydatid disease, either primary or secondary, represents an uncomm on but significant manifestation of the disease. This survey study rev iews 28 reports of spinal hydatid disease from Turkey during the past 5 decades. Only 14 patients also had pulmonary or some other organ inf estation, The cysts affecting the spine were commonly in the thoracic region, Most patients had intraspinal extradural hydatid cysts associa ted with vertebral involvement, The presenting symptoms were mostly at ypical, and it was interesting that most of the patients were misdiagn osed preoperatively as Pott's disease during the first decades, sugges ting that new imaging techniques such as CT and MRI are the diagnostic procedures of choice for this disease, Surgery remains the best thera py for spinal hydatid disease, although adjuvant antihelminthic therap y may be necessary, There were only 15 cases of recurrence (18%); surg ical intervention was palliative in all these patients and it was foll owed by chemotherapy. Operative mortality was very low (two patients d ied in the early postoperative period) and there were no complications related to treatment with antihelminthic drugs, The study indicates t hat hydatid disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis when radiological findings suggest spinal infections or tumors, and t hat surgical decompression in association with chemotherapy is the tre atment of choice.