Albendazole therapy in the treatment of hydatid liver disease

Hydatid disease, a common health problem in Turkey as in many countries, sh ould be included in the differential diagnosis of all patients presenting w ith at cystic mass in the abdominal or thoracic cavity. Previously, surgery had been the main form of treatment. But with the introduction of preopera tive medication with albendazole, treating this disease medically is now gr owing in popularity. We report herein the findings of ten patients with two lung and 20 liver hydatid cysts ranging from 3 to 20 cm in diameter, who w ere successfully treated with medical therapy. Multiple organ involvement a nd multiple cysts in an organ are tile main indications for medical treatme nt with albendazole, but the indications should not be limited to certain s ituations such as small-sized cysts, since even huge-sized cysts responded well to the therapy in this series.