CARDIAC HYDATİD CYST ON MRI

Hydatid cyst is a tissue parasitic infection caused by Echinococcus granulosus. Cardiac hydatid cyst is seen rarely, cardiac involvement occuring in about 0.2 % to 3 % of all cases of hydatid disease(1).

The cyst is mostly located in the left ventricle 55 -60%, followed by right ventricle 15 %, interventricular septum 5-9 %, pericardium 8 %, left atrium 8%, pulmonary artery 6% and right atrim 3- 4% (2).

Cardiac hydatid cyst may be asymptomatic for a long period of time. The disease can manifest multiple symptoms, most commonly arrhythmias, angina, valvular disfunctions, pericarditis, acute myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, anafylactic reactions. Some symptoms such as syncope or atrioventrivulary blocks, are caused by involvement of interventricular septum (3).

The clinical symptoms induced by hydatid cysts are due to related complications, such as rupture, obstruction, or compression. The most common complication is the rupture of the cyst. The rupture is seen in right ventricle’s hydatid cysts more than left ventricle’s cysts because of the subendocardial locations (4).
In thıs case the magnetic resonance imaging shows global anatomy of the heart, the cytic characteristic of the lesion on T1 and T2 weighted images, and cyst wall. In addition it can show, internal features of the lesion and its complications (5).