Cardiac Hydatid Cyst

Abstract

A 52-year-old female presented with features suggestive of acute coronary syndrome. A transthoracic echocardiogram done to assess the cardiac function and regional wall motion abnormality revealed a large cardiac cystic lesion instead, in the apical part of the interventricular septum, suggestive of a hydatid cyst. Cystic hydatid disease results from infection with the larval or adult form of the Echinococcus granulosus tapeworm. Cardiac hydatid cyst is a rare condition seen in 0.5%-2% of patients with hydatid disease, and the location of a hydatid cyst in the interventricular septum is exceptional. Cardiac hydatid cysts can rupture and cause cardiac tamponade, fatal arrhythmias, or systemic infection. The atypical location of a large hydatid cyst in the apical interventricular septum encroaching into the right ventricular cavity filling almost half of it, was an interesting finding, found worth reporting. Also, further investigations that unraveled two more hydatid cysts in the liver, made the case more interesting to report.