Other sites of the rupture are peritoneal cavity, thoracic cavity, hepatic subcapsular space, hollow viscera, and abdominal wall. The most common complication is the rupture and the most common site of the rupture is the biliary tree. Hepatic hydatid cyst may cause acute abdominal pain due to its complications. Evaluation of cystic component, vascular and biliary tree involvement, and extrahepatic extension may be assessed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The sensitivity of computed tomography (CT) in liver hydatidosis is 94%. Gharbi’s and WHO classification systems are helpful to determine to evaluate the cyst activity the appropriate treatment method (medical treatment, percutaneous drainage, or surgical excision) for the hydatid cyst type. Unilocular or multilocular appearance, anechoic or echogenic content, multivesicular or multiseptated appearance, presence of hydatid sand, daughter cysts, floating membrane, and/or calcified wall are the sonographic features which determine the type of the hydatid cyst in Gharbi’s or WHO classification system. Gharbi classification system and World Health Organization (WHO) classification system classify the hydatid cysts based on their gray-scale ultrasound appearances. Ultrasonography (US) can be used as a screening method of choice in liver hydatidosis. Hepatic hydatid cyst is commonly detected incidentally and patients are asymptomatic in most of the cases. Although the liver is the most frequent site of involvement, any part of the body may host the hydatid disease. In humans, hydatid disease involves the liver in approximately 75% of the cases. multilocularis is less common but more invasive, mimicking malignancy. granulosus is the most common type, whereas E. There are 4 types of Echinococcus infections. Hydatid disease is a worldwide zoonosis produced by the larval stage of the Echinococcus tapeworm. A detailed literature search was also carried out to be able to summarize the epidemiologic aspects, radiological, clinical, and laboratory findings of these particular parasitic diseases (Tables 1 and 2). The present study aims to raise awareness about abdominal parasitosis that we encountered in our emergency radiology practice. Therefore, clinical and radiological findings may vary for the different types of parasites and also for their site of involvement. A parasite may be hosted by a specific intraabdominal organ, or may travel among several intraabdominal organs, or may induce a cyst formation that could be complicated with rupture, superinfection, or mass effect. Acute abdominal pain may also result from complications of parasitic involvement such as abscess formation and rupture of focal parasitic cystic lesions. Although the clinical symptoms are usually nonspecific, patients may present with acute abdominal pain due to inflammatory changes in parenchymal organ, bowel walls, bile ducts, and peritoneal surfaces and obstructive changes in bowels and bile ducts. Nevertheless, abdominal involvement is seen in the majority of cases. Infestation affects different parts of the body.
Parasitic diseases may be transmitted in three different ways as (i) fecal-oral route, (ii) active penetration of the skin by larvae, and (iii) vector arthropods. Therefore, these data indicate that there is no correlation between the incidence of the parasitic disease and the frequency and severity of symptoms. In the same study, researchers emphasize that enteric protozoa, ascariasis, and toxoplasmosis are the most common parasitic diseases however, the global burden of disease is highest in cysticercosis. The diseases caused by most parasites results in significant morbidity and mortality among vulnerable populations. A previously published systematic review reported that parasitic diseases resulted in 48.4 million cases annually and 59,724 deaths per year. Although some types of parasites are endemic for certain locations, worldwide cases can be seen due to immigration and travel.