Brain hydatidosis: report on 117 cases.

Among a series of 155 brain hydatid disease patients hospitalized between 1965 and 1998, 117 were children. The mean age was approximately 7.2 years, with a slight male predominance. Eighteen patients presented with another visceral localization. Symptoms and signs of intracranial hypertension are currently encountered (75%) followed by hemiparesis, epilepsy, mental changes, skull deformities and, more rarely, dyskinetic phenomenon. Brain hemispheric localization is the rule, with some exceptions. CT scans reveal an intra-parenchymal lesion with clearly defined, rarely enhanced margins. Medical treatment has virtually no place in the management of cerebral solitary cyst. Albendazole has been used in cases of multiple involvement, with controversial results. Surgical hydrostatic expulsion is the only effective treatment. Recovery is expected when the cyst is extracted completely unruptured.