Percutaneous Treatment of Complex Hydatid Cyst of the Liver Using Radio-Frequency; Report of the First Case

Surgical removal of a hydatid cyst is still considered the gold standard treatment in many countries. In recent years, percutaneous drainage has been increasingly favored as an alternative to surgery and chemotherapy alone, and has also been shown to be effective. The procedure has been commonly called PAIR (Percutaneous Aspiration, Injection of scolicide agent and Reaspiration). However, the terminology PAIR is not sufficient in our opinion as it excludes alcohol injection. In spite of recent progresses, percutaneous treatment for liver echinococcal cysts is still far from satisfactory in case of complex septated cysts, and new techniques have to emerge. However, the PAIR technique has been considered safe and efficient, and published by the World Health Organization (WHO informal working group on echinococcosis), collecting the data from selected centers, including our experience