Cystic echinococcosis of the liver: experience from a Danish tertiary reference center (2002-2010)

Echinococcosis in a non-endemic country - 20-years' surgical experience from a Norwegian tertiary referral Centre

BACKGROUND

In Scandinavia, the incidence of cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is low and almost exclusively an imported disease following the trends of immigration. The aim of the study was to review available data on clinical management and outcome for patients treated at Oslo University Hospital, a referral centre for echinococcosis in Norway, with special emphasis on surgical treatment.

METHODS

All patients admitted with echinococcosis between January 2000 and December 2020 were identified. Medical records were reviewed retrospectively concerning patient demographics, treatment strategy, surgical procedures, complications and outcomes.

RESULTS

A total of 92 patients with median age 37 years (range 4-85) were identified. Sixty-eight patients (74%) were symptomatic. All patients, except for two, were immigrants to Norway and born in endemic areas. Ninety patients were diagnosed with CE and two with AE. Location of the cysts was most commonly in the liver (86%) followed by peritoneum, lungs, and spleen. All patients with active cysts were treated with albendazole. Surgical treatment was performed in 51 (56%) patients. The most common reason for abstaining from surgical treatment was that the diagnostic work-up revealed inactive cysts or interventional radiology was performed. Of the 51 patients who underwent surgery, a radical procedure was performed in 32 (64%) cases, a conservative procedure in 12 (24%), and a combination in six (12%). Clavien Dindo grade ≥3 complications occurred in 30%, and 90-day mortality was 2%. Bile leakage occurred in seven patients and was treated successfully with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with biliary stent placement in all patients.

CONCLUSION

In a low-endemic area like Norway, management of echinococcus includes medical therapy, surgery, and/or interventional radiology. Surgical intervention seems to be effective, and is associated with acceptable morbidity rates.

A systematic review and meta-analysis on the treatment of liver hydatid cyst using meta-MUMS tool: comparing PAIR and laparoscopic procedures

INTRODUCTION

There is an academic debate over surgical treatments of liver hydatid cyst disease. In this study, a systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out in order to evaluate the pros and cons of both PAIR (Puncture, Aspiration, Injection, Respiration) and laparoscopic techniques by considering the outcomes of liver hydatid cysts.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We designed descriptive Boolean queries to search two databases, PubMed and Scopus, to derive the articles published in the period of January 2000 to December 2016 in order to evaluate the outcomes of these research articles. The outcomes of laparoscopic and PAIR procedures include the rates of cure, postoperative complications, recurrences, and mortality, which were extracted, assessed, and used as their corresponding effect sizes.

RESULTS

Fifty-seven studies including a total of 2832 patients (PAIR group n = 1650 and laparoscopic group = 1182) were analyzed. In this meta-analysis study, a random effect model of correlations of outcomes (postoperative complications, mortalities, recurrences, and cure rates) of PAIR and laparoscopy procedures was used. The meta-analysis and the forest plots of the two procedures show that the PAIR approach is superior in terms of cure, complication, and mortality rates compared with the laparoscopy technique. However, the recurrence rate is low in laparoscopic approaches. Moreover, Egger's tests for determining publication bias and heterogeneity tests were also performed.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows promising trends toward an advantage of PAIR procedures in treatment of liver hydatid cyst in comparison with laparoscopic procedures. The PAIR procedure is superior to laparoscopy due to having a higher cure rate and lower complication and mortality rates; however, the latter has a lower recurrence rate.

Gram-Positive Uropathogens, Polymicrobial Urinary Tract Infection, and the Emerging Microbiota of the Urinary Tract

Gram-positive bacteria are a common cause of urinary-tract infection (UTI), particularly among individuals who are elderly, pregnant, or who have other risk factors for UTI. Here we review the epidemiology, virulence mechanisms, and host response to the most frequently isolated Gram-positive uropathogens: Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Streptococcus agalactiae. We also review several emerging, rare, misclassified, and otherwise underreported Gram-positive pathogens of the urinary tract including Aerococcus, Corynebacterium, Actinobaculum, and Gardnerella. The literature strongly suggests that urologic diseases involving Gram-positive bacteria may be easily overlooked due to limited culture-based assays typically utilized for urine in hospital microbiology laboratories. Some UTIs are polymicrobial in nature, often involving one or more Gram-positive bacteria. We herein review the risk factors and recent evidence for mechanisms of bacterial synergy in experimental models of polymicrobial UTI. Recent experimental data has demonstrated that, despite being cleared quickly from the bladder, some Gram-positive bacteria can impact pathogenic outcomes of co-infecting organisms. When taken together, the available evidence argues that Gram-positive bacteria are important uropathogens in their own right, but that some can be easily overlooked because they are missed by routine diagnostic methods. Finally, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that a surprising variety of fastidious Gram-positive bacteria may either reside in or be regularly exposed to the urinary tract and further suggests that their presence is widespread among women, as well as men. Experimental studies in this area are needed; however, there is a growing appreciation that the composition of bacteria found in the bladder could be a potentially important determinant in urologic disease, including susceptibility to UTI.

The Comparison of 2 New Promising Weapons for the Treatment of Hydatid Cyst Disease: PAIR and Laparoscopic Therapy

BACKGROUND

To compare the effectiveness and safety for hydatid disease treatment, the 2 new minimally invasive therapies: laparoscopic and PAIR (puncture, aspiration, injection, and reaspiration) were compared by systematic meta-analysis.

METHODS

A comprehensive analysis of published cases from 1990 to 2014 was performed using PubMed database. A total of 231 publications on laparoscopic treatment of hydatid cysts and 298 publications on the PAIR treatment were identified. Thirty-eight studies involved 1230 laparoscope-treated subjects and 41 involved 2686 PAIR-treated subjects in this review. The effectiveness and safety of emphasis is placed on the recurrence, insufficient response, death, cure, and postoperative complications. Operation time and hospital stay are also discussed as new evaluation index. The stages of cyst are summarized to determine which stage is suitable for PAIR.

RESULTS

Clinical and parasitological cure occurred in 98.7% of patients undergoing laparoscopic intervention and in 97.5% of patients receiving PAIR plus chemotherapy (P<0.014). Recurrence occurred in 1.0% and 1.6%, respectively (P<0.087). Insufficient response occurred in 0.16% and 0.9%, respectively (P<0.009); 2 patients died in each group (P<0.594). Allergic reaction/urticarial/anaphylactic shock occurs in 0.14% and 4.24% of patients receiving laparoscopic intervention and PAIR plus chemotherapy, respectively (P<0.001). Infection/abscess (5.37% and 2.57%; P<0.001) and surgical-related complications (7.32% and 3.43%; P<0.001) were seen more frequently in laparoscopic intervention subjects than PAIR plus chemotherapy subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

Laparoscopic therapy and PAIR intervention are shown to be safe and effective alternative for open surgery with suitable indication such as cyst type and location. They have different postoperative complication features. The biliary fistula/bile leakage was more frequent in laparoscopic intervention (P<0.001) and fever occurred more in PAIR plus chemotherapy patients.

Surgical resection of hepatic cystic echinococcosis impaired by preoperative diagnosis

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a rare afferent infectious disease in Japan. This paper reports a case of a hepatic cyst being diagnosed after surgical resection. A 40-year-old Syrian male was admitted for evaluation of a hepatic cyst. Serum antibodies of echinococcosis were negative. Enhanced computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a large cystic lesion, 9 cm in diameter, in the left lateral sector of the liver, which had many honeycomb-like septa and calcified lesions. Magnetic resonance imaging of this lesion revealed high intensity in the T2 weighted image. We preoperatively diagnosed this lesion as cystadenocarcinoma or CE and performed a left hepatectomy. Pathological examination revealed the presence of protoscolices in the fluid of the cysts and led to a diagnosis of this lesion as CE. In conclusion, on seeing patients with huge hepatic cysts who come from an epidemic area, we should consider hepatic CE.