Xu Meng-Zhao, Ke Fei, Chai Jin-Ping, A Ji-De, Liu Lin-Xun
The Graduate School, Qinghai University, Xining, China.
Department of Internal Medicine-Cardiovascular, Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital, Xining, China.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2025 Apr 15;12:1538839. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1538839. eCollection 2025.
Alveolar echinococcosis (AE), a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by infection, predominantly colonizes the liver and may metastasize to the lungs or brain in advanced stages. Involvement of extrapulmonary sites such as the chest wall or subcutaneous tissues is exceedingly rare, even in endemic regions. The nonspecific clinical manifestations and imaging features of chest wall AE pose diagnostic challenges, necessitating histopathological confirmation. We present a case of a 48-year-old female admitted with a chief complaint of a right supra-mammary mass persisting for over 1 year. Imaging studies revealed a cystic lesion in the right chest wall and a hypodense hepatic lesion in the right lobe, suggestive of hydatid disease. The patient underwent combined hepatic segmentectomy and chest wall mass resection under general anesthesia. Histopathological examination confirmed AE infection in both hepatic and anterior chest wall specimens. The patient achieved complete recovery with no postoperative complications and was discharged uneventfully. Regular oral albendazole therapy has been maintained for 6 months postoperatively, with no recurrence to date.
肺泡型棘球蚴病（AE）是一种由感染引起的人畜共患寄生虫病，主要侵袭肝脏，晚期可能转移至肺或脑。即使在流行地区，累及胸壁或皮下组织等肺外部位的情况也极为罕见。胸壁AE的非特异性临床表现和影像学特征给诊断带来了挑战，需要组织病理学确诊。我们报告一例48岁女性患者，以右乳上肿物持续1年以上为主诉入院。影像学检查显示右胸壁有一个囊性病变，右叶肝脏有一个低密度病变，提示为包虫病。患者在全身麻醉下接受了肝段切除术和胸壁肿物切除术。组织病理学检查证实肝脏和前胸壁标本均有AE感染。患者完全康复，无术后并发症，顺利出院。术后已持续口服阿苯达唑治疗6个月，迄今无复发。
