ABSTRACT
The Authors report the current trends in chemotherapy of human hydatid disease, on the basis of their own experience, concerning the medical treatment of 425 patients affected by hydatid disease. The Authors describe the factors that can influence the outcome of chemotherapy, such as: the drugs used and their posology, the age of the cysts and/or of the patients, cyst's morphology and localization.
Subject(s)
Albendazole/therapeutic use , Antiparasitic Agents/therapeutic use , Echinococcosis/drug therapy , Mebendazole/therapeutic use , HumansABSTRACT
The Authors report the current trends in chemotherapy of human hydatid disease, reviewing the most important papers and in particular their own experience, based on treatment with benzoimidazole carbamates of 425 patients affected by hydatid disease. The Authors particularly describe the factors that can influence the outcome of chemotherapy, such as: the drug used and their posology, the age of the cysts and or of the patients, cyst morphology and localization etc.
ABSTRACT
We report our experience in the treatment with benzoimidazole carbamates (mebendazole and albendazole) of 337 patients affected by hydatid cysts with different localizations. The treated cysts showed degenerative modifications in 50.6% of the cases after mebendazole treatment and in about 80% after albendazole treatment. Relapses after therapy were observed in 30% of the cases; about 95% of the recurring cysts showed good susceptibility to a further cycle of therapy with benzoimidazole carbamates. Side effects observed with either drug were not severe and always reversible, consisting mainly of abdominal pains and increased levels of transaminases in serum. Among the factors that may influence the therapeutic results are the drug employed, the age of the cysts, the age of the patient, and the localization of the cysts and their morphological characteristics. Moreover, it can be hypothesized that each hydatid cyst has an intrinsic sensitivity to benzoimidazole carbamates.
