==== Front Ann Saudi MedAnn Saudi MedAnnals of Saudi Medicine0256-49470975-4466King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre 1727749710.5144/0256-4947.2007.60asm-1-60ImagesGigantic cerebral hydatid cysts in childhood Per Hüseyin *Gümüs Hakan *Kumandas Sefer *Tucer Bülent †Yikilmaz Ali ‡Menku Ahmet †Coskun Abdulhakim ‡Kurtsoy Ali † * Department of Pediatric Neurology, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey † Department of Neurosurgery, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey ‡ Department of Radiology, Erciyes University, Kayseri, TurkeyCorrespondence and reprint requests: Pediatric Neurology Erciyes University Kayseri 38039, Turkey, T: +90-352-240 5005, F: +90-352-437 5825, hper@erciyes.edu.trJan-Feb 2007 27 1 60 61 01 9 2006 Copyright © 2007, Annals of Saudi Medicine2007This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. ==== Body Echinococcosis is a parasitic disease caused by infestation of various body tissues by the encysted larvae of Echinococcosis granulosa, the tapeworm. The definitive host for the adult form is usually the dog, where the tapeworm lives in large numbers in the intestines. The disease is related to the inefficiency of environmental health and protective care and dealing with animals, which is prevalent in South America, Africa, Australia, the Mediterranean countries and the Middle East. Cerebral hydatid cysts are rare and comprise only 2% to 3% of all reported hydatid cysts. They constitute up to 3% to 4% of all intracranial space-occupying lesions.1–6 The parietal region is reported to be the most common location of cerebral hydatid cysts.1–3,7–14 On MR, the signal intensity of the cyst is isointense with cerebrospinal fluid on all pulse sequences. Variable amounts of septa can be observed. The MRI demonstrates the hydatid cyst as a spheral, thin-walled structure containing fluid with CSF imaging characters.8,14–16 Cerebral hydatid cysts are benign, slowly growing cysts. The lesions may remain asymptomatic until they are quite large. Figure 1 T1-weighted axial image showing a cystic lesion with a well-defined border in the left parietal region and a markedly left-to-right midline shift Figure 2 T2-weighted axial image showing a gigantic right thalamic hydatid cyst causing displacement of the midline structures. Figure 3 T2-weighted axial MR image showing a gigantic right frontotemporoparietal hydatic cyst causing displacement of the midline structures. ==== Refs REFERENCES 1 Ayres MC Dewey IM German WS Cerebral Hydatidosis J Neurosurg 1963 20 371 377 14186052 2 Ciurea AV Vasilescu G Nuteanu L Carp N Cerebral hydatid cyst in children. Experience of 27 cases Child’s Nerv Syst 1995 11 679 685 8750949 3 Dew HR Primary cerebral hydatid disease Aust N Z J Surg 1995 24 261 271 4 Ersahin Y Mutluer S Guzelbag E Intracranial hydatid cysts in children Neurosurgery 1993 33 219 225 8367043 5 Krajewski R Stelmasiak Z Cerebral hydatid cyst in children Child’s Nerv Syst 1991 7 154 155 1878870 6 Özek M Complications of central nervous system hydatid disease Pediatr Neurosurg 1994 20 84 91 8142288 7 Carrea R Dowling E Jr Guevara JA Surgical treatment of hydatid cysts of the central nervous system in pediatric age (Dowling’s technique) Childs Brain 1975 1 4 21 1175437 8 Çataltepe O Çolak A Özcan OE Özgen T Intracranial hydatid cysts: experience with surgical treatment in 120 patients Neurochirurgia 1992 35 108 111 1508288 9 Turgut M Intracranial hydatidozis in Turkey: Its clinical presentation, diagnostic studies surgical management, and outcome. A review of 276 cases Neurosurg Rev 2001 24 200 208 11778827 10 Kaya U Özden B Turker K Tarcan B Intracranial hydatid cysts. Study of 17 cases Neurosurg 1975 42 580 584 11 Kurtsoy A Öktem S Koç K Akdemir H Menkü A Successful surgical treatment of a thalamic hydatid cyst with contralateral transcallosal approach Pediatr Neurosurg 1999 31 96 99 10592478 12 Menkü A Kulaksýzoglu O Tucer B Kurtsoy A Akdemir H Successful surgical excision of a gigantic cerebral hydatid cyst: Case report Minim Invasive Neurosurg 2004 47 61 64 15100936 13 Öktem IS Akdemir H Pasoglu A Kurtsoy A Selçuklu A Hydatid cyst of the posterior fossa: A case report Erciyes Tip Dergisi 1994 16 303 306 14 Shamam OEI Amer T Atta MA Magnetic resonance imaging of simple and infected hydatid cysts of the brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2001 19 965 974 11595368 15 Sahin-Akyar G Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings in cerebral hydatid disease Radiography 2002 8 251 258 16 Tüzün M Altinörs N Arda IS Hekimoglu B Cerebral hydatid CT and MR findings Journal of Clinical Imaging 2002 26 353 357 12213372