Alveolar Echinococcosis Mimicking a Hepatic Neoplasm with Lymph Node Metastasis: A Case Report

Abstract

A 37-year-old man had an asymptomatic 17-mm mass in the liver by health check with ultrasonography. Five years later, he was referred to our hospital because the mass was slightly enlarged with a peripancreatic lymph node. We performed endoscopic ultrasonography fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) to evaluate a lymph node, but it showed amorphous eosinophilic material and eosinophilic infiltrate in necrotic tissue of toothpaste-like white specimen. However, we diagnosed as potentially malignant liver mass with lymph node metastasis because of 2-deoxy-2-(fluorine-18) fluorodeoxyglucose uptake. We then performed hepatectomy and enucleation of the pancreas. DNA polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed Echinococcus multilocularis infection. Retrospectively, we could find a part of Echinococcus in the specimens of EUS-FNA.

Keywords

• Alveolar echinococcosis
• Echinococcus multilocularis
• Endoscopic ultrasonography fine-needle aspiration