Echinococcus is a zoonotic parasite and 1 of 17 neglected tropical diseases with a worldwide distribution.The World Health Organization(WHO)targeted for control or elimination by 2050[1,2].Two main species of Echinoco...Echinococcus is a zoonotic parasite and 1 of 17 neglected tropical diseases with a worldwide distribution.The World Health Organization(WHO)targeted for control or elimination by 2050[1,2].Two main species of Echinococcus infect humans:Echinococcus granulosus,causing cystic echinococcosis(CE),and Echinococcus multilocularis(EM),causing alveolar echinococcosis(AE)[3].AE is much rarer but far more severe than CE and ranks as one of the most dangerous helminthic zoonoses in the world[4,5].Humans are rare aberrant intermediate hosts and typically become infected through the ingestion of EM eggs shed in the feces of definitive hosts[6].After an incubation period of many years,humans may develop AE[7].While slow-growing,AE is a devastating clinical condition characterized by silent progression and infiltrative proliferation of the parasite,mimicking a malignancy[7].Without appropriate treatment,AE has a death rate of more than 90%within 10 years of diagnosis[5].For this reason,AE must be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with a hepatic mass or malignancy.展开更多
文摘Echinococcus is a zoonotic parasite and 1 of 17 neglected tropical diseases with a worldwide distribution.The World Health Organization(WHO)targeted for control or elimination by 2050[1,2].Two main species of Echinococcus infect humans:Echinococcus granulosus,causing cystic echinococcosis(CE),and Echinococcus multilocularis(EM),causing alveolar echinococcosis(AE)[3].AE is much rarer but far more severe than CE and ranks as one of the most dangerous helminthic zoonoses in the world[4,5].Humans are rare aberrant intermediate hosts and typically become infected through the ingestion of EM eggs shed in the feces of definitive hosts[6].After an incubation period of many years,humans may develop AE[7].While slow-growing,AE is a devastating clinical condition characterized by silent progression and infiltrative proliferation of the parasite,mimicking a malignancy[7].Without appropriate treatment,AE has a death rate of more than 90%within 10 years of diagnosis[5].For this reason,AE must be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with a hepatic mass or malignancy.
