Hydatidosis as a cause of acute appendicitis: A case report

Abstract

Acute appendicitis is considered the most common cause of emergency surgery in children and young adults. The association between parasitic infections and appendicitis has been widely investigated. Hydatidosis, a zoonotic helminthic disease caused by the larval stage of the Echinococcus granulosus, may cause illness in intermediate hosts, generally human and herbivorous animals. This disease is considered hyper endemic in northwest of Iran and is a serious public health problem. Hydatidosis predominantly is located in internal organs especially liver and lung but is considered a rare cause of acute appendicitis. Our aim was to study hydatid cyst that causes appendicitis. In this retrospective descriptive, 275 appendectomies performed during the years 2007-2012 in Tabriz Emam Reza hospital. Depending on the clinical notes, serological method, laboratory, surgical findings and attention to the histopathologic results, we found a patient with appendiceal hydatidosis. Acute appendicitis of hydatidosis origin is not seen frequently even in the hyper endemic area. Therefore, described an unusual cases of hydatidosis, should be considered in the differential diagnoses of appendicitis also education on how to prevent hydatidosis and eradication of stray dogs should be included in training programs to avoid and decrease the appendectomy operations. آ© 2013 Asian Pacific Tropical Medicine Press.