Pulmonary hydatid disease in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey

Aim: To evaluate retrospectively epidemiological parameters and clinicopathologic figures of pulmonary hydatid diseasein our region.Materials and methods: A total of 117 cases of human pulmonary hydatid disease were included in this study, and these cases were diagnosed in the Department of Pathology of Dicle University Medical School, between 1987 and 2007. The patients’ data were retrospectively collected from archival reports; in addition, some of the patients were still alive and contactable. Results: Our 117 cases consisted of 66 (56.41%) females and 51 (43.58%) males. The average age was 28.18. Pulmonary hydatidosis appears to be more common in younger individuals. The prevalence is 2.6 cases/100,000. Of the total of 129pulmonary cysts, there were 75 cysts on the right and 54 on the left side. The mean pulmonary hydatid cyst diameter inthe 117 patients was 7.20 cm.Conclusion: In our region, pulmonary hydatid disease appears to be more common in younger, female individuals, and the cysts also tend to be bigger in children than in adults.