Cardiac hydatid cyst causing massive pulmonary embolism.

Cardiac hydatid cyst is a rare parasitic disease. Since it may be associated with fatal complications, early diagnosis and treatment of a cardiac hydatid cyst is very important. We present a case with hydatid cyst localized in the right atrium and bilaterally in the lungs, and embolized pulmonary arteries bilaterally. The right atrial cyst localized on the interatrial septum was removed using cardiopulmonary bypass and the cyst in the right pulmonary artery was extracted by an embolectomy catheter. The patient died of pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary insufficiency three months postoperatively.