Intracranial hydatid cyst: a report of five cases and review of literature.

The authors present five cases of intracranial hydatid cysts managed at the department of Neurosurgery, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, between 1984-1997. The mean age of presentation was 13.4 years. Four patients (80%) were in the first decade of life. All patients presented with focal neurological deficit and clinical features of raised intracranial pressure. Radiological investigations included computerised tomography (CT) scan in three cases, CT and magnetic resonance (MR) scan in one case and accidental cystogram in one case. Two patients had multiple intracranial cysts. One patient had a solitary cyst in the lateral ventricle. Commonest location was in the parietal lobe (3 cases). Total excision of the cyst was done in all five cases. Recurrence was seen in two cases, probably as a result of rupture of the cyst during first surgery. The features of this rare disease are retrospectively analyzed in this presentation and the literature is reviewed.