The Clinical Diagnosis and Biofluid Based Diagnosis of Liver Hydatid Cysts

There are three stages in the development of hydatid cysts: initial, tumoral and the stage of complications. In the initial and pseudotumoral stages, the diagnosis depends on topographic localisation. In the complications stage, diagnosis is established on the basis of the most frequent clinical manifestations of the gall bladder, of peritoneal syndromes, of complications involving the lungs and pleura, of venous compression syndromes or the presence of rash. The biofluid-based diagnosis of liver hydatid cysts includes parasite identification (parasitological diagnosis) and immunological investigations indicating host-vs-parasite conflict (immunological diagnosis). Liver hydatid cysts exhibit several particular features depending on their location, size, and relation to adjacent organs.