Epidemiological, Clinical, and Paraclinical Study of Hydatidosis in Isfahan City, Iran, during the Years 2008-2016

Hydatidosis is a zoonosis disease, and an important public health problem in many areas of the world including Iran. Sufficient epidemiological information is required for taking care, monitoring, and effective control of the disease. In the present study, we evaluated epidemiological, clinical, and paraclinical characteristics of hydatidosis in the Alzahra hospital in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran, over a 9-year period.

In a descriptive cross-sectional study, demographic information (age, sex, job, etc.), clinical signs, and diagnosis methods (imaging, sonography, and serology) were obtained from the medical record of hospitalized patients during the years 2008-2016.

Overall, from 698 patients, 352 men (50.4%) and 346 women (49.6%), 647 patients were diagnosed as having hydatid cyst by clinical and paraclinical findings, and pathologic documentation. Patients' age ranged from 3 to 87 years, and the peak prevalence of the disease was between 20 and 40 years (39% of cases). The involvement of liver was the most frequent (64.8%) site, and most cases of liver cysts (54.2%) were in the right lobe.

The results showed that some cases of hydatid cysts were not diagnosed before surgery by imaging and serology method; on the contrary, cases of diagnosis of hydatid that were determined to be non-hydatid cyst after surgery. This suggests that hydatid cyst diagnosis requires more reliable and accurate diagnostic methods.