Can the requirement of a diversion procedure be predicted after an uncomplicated intracranial hydatid cyst surgery?

Intracranial hydatidosis is mainly a pediatric disease. Surgical evacuation of the mass in toto is the gold standard of therapy. No concise data related to the requirement of diversion procedures after uncomplicated hydatid cyst removal is encountered in the literature. The aim of this report is to focus on this idea and estimate the necessity of a diversion procedure beforehand. A 6-year-old girl both with intracranial and renal involvement of hydatidosis underwent surgery. Intact removal of the intracranial cyst harboring daughter vesicles was achieved. A persistent porencephalic cyst at the operative site required a shunt 6 months after surgery. Thick pericyst formation was blamed for this specific progress and the pathophysiology is discussed. Copyright 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel.