Right ventricular echinococcosis followed by hydatid pulmonary embolism

Abstract Involvement of the pulmonary arteries by echinoccocosis usually occurs due to pulmonary embolization after rupture of the cyst in the right ventricle or, rarely, by dissemination from another focus. The paper presents a case of hydatic cyst localized in both pulmonary arteries as a complication after surgical removal of right ventricular hydatid cyst 4 months earlier. At the time of the first admission to the hospital a cystic mass was evacuated from the cavity of the right ventricle. During the postoperative course of chemotherapy treatment the patient was referred to the cardiac department with a cyanosis and dyspnea. The diagnostic CT and MRI exams showed bilateral pulmonary artery involvement for the lower lobes. The combination of clinical history, imaging findings, and serologic test results suggest that the new lesions in pulmonary arteries represented intraluminal hydatid cysts.