Echographic epidemiology of cystic hydatid disease in Italy.

This study was carried out in order to establish the actual prevalence of cystic hydatid disease in Italy using ultrasound. In fact, there is a great difference between the official reports of the disease and epidemiological investigations. From 1988 to 1990, 424 cases of cystic hydatid disease were diagnosed in 333,144 examinations performed in nineteen Italian Echographic Departments, giving a mean incidence of 0.16%. Most of the examined persons arriving at the 19 Echographic Departments had symptoms independent from hydatidosis, were affected with other pathologies, or they were patients attending follow-up for neoplasms. The authors note that human hydatidosis has a high incidence in the south and in the isles; hepatic lesions were 85.61% of all cases of abdominal hydatidosis, asymptomatic cystic hydatid disease was present in 60% of the total number; the average age of the sample examined was 45.38 years without significant differences between men and women. Finally the Authors suggest the importance of echography in planning therapeutic programs.