Primary gluteal subcutaneous hydatid cyst

Abstract

Hydatid disease is a parasitic zoonosis caused by Echinococcus granulosus larvae. While it can affect almost any part of the human body, liver and lung are the two organs where the disease is most frequently detected. Subcutaneous hydatid cyst, which mostly develops secondary to iatrogenic spillage of cyst contents into incision area during a visceral hydatid cyst surgery, accounts for only 1.5 % of all cases of hydatid cyst. With only a limited number of reported cases, primary involvement of subcutaneous tissue by hydatid cyst is a much more rare occurrence as compared with the secondary form. Subcutaneous hydatid cysts tend to involve trunk and limb roots, and mostly present as a slowly-growing, painless, mobile mass with a normal overlying skin. To our knowledge, only a few cases of primary subcutaneous hydatid cyst in the gluteal region have been reported to date. Here, we present a 72-year-old farmer who presented with a painless lump in the gluteal region and diagnosed as having primary subcutaneous hydatid cyst. Keywords: Hydatid cyst, Gluteal region, Soft tissue, Subcutaneous, MRI