Hydatid cyst of the kidney: diagnosis and treatment.

Renal echinococcosis is relatively uncommon compared to liver and lung localizations. Kidney involvement represents 4% of confirmed cases of hydatid disease. We reviewed the clinical findings of a personal series of renal hydatidosis with emphasis on diagnostic and therapeutic issues. A total of 178 renal cysts were collected over a period of 33 years from 1963 to 1996. Clinical, radiologic and laboratory data are analyzed. Radiologic exploration has had an interesting evolution, with the appearance of ultrasonography and computed tomography. Diagnostic accuracy has been greater since the availability of ultrasonography and immunologic studies. Their contribution to the diagnosis of renal hydatid disease is important. We try, with our experience of ultrasonography in the matter of renal hydatid cysts, to underline the role of this exploration. The treatment of hydatid cyst of the kidney is surgical. Renal-sparing surgery, cystectomy plus pericystectomy, is possible in most cases (75%). Nephrectomy (25% of cases) must be reserved for destroyed kidneys resulting from aged cysts opening into the excretory cavities and complicated by renal infection. Whether conservative or radical, the first surgery performed is cystectomy, with germinate membrane removal after controlled evacuation and opening of the cyst, making the subsequent steps of surgery easier.