TY - JOUR T1 - Relevance of Pulmonary Alveolar Echinococcosis JO - Archivos de Bronconeumología T2 - AU - Aydin,Yener AU - Ogul,Hayri AU - Topdagi,Omer AU - Ulas,Ali Bilal AU - Sade,Recep AU - Ozturk,Gurkan AU - Korkut,Ercan AU - Aksungur,Nurhak AU - Sener,Ebru AU - Kesmez Can,Fatma AU - Araz,Omer AU - Alper,Fatih AU - Eroglu,Atilla SN - 03002896 M3 - 10.1016/j.arbres.2019.07.014 DO - 10.1016/j.arbres.2019.07.014 UR - https://archbronconeumol.org/en-relevance-pulmonary-alveolar-echinococcosis-articulo-S0300289619303175 AB - BackgroundPulmonary alveolar echinococcosis (PAE) is a chronic disease caused by Echinococcus multilocularis with very low incidence in developed countries. MethodsThis single-center, retrospective study included 34 patients who were diagnosed with PAE between January 2001 and February 2019 (15 males, 19 females, mean age: 52.4±15.8 years, age range: 28–78 years) in Ataturk University Medical School, Erzurum, Turkey. ResultsThe liver was the primary involved organ in all cases. Pulmonary involvement was detected in 13.0% (34/261) of all cases with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (AE), and three patients (8.8%) had both pulmonary metastasis and brain metastasis. The route of spread to the lungs based on radiological data was hematogeneous in 25 patients (73.5%), transdiaphragmatic in three patients (8.8%) and both hematogeneous and transdiaphragmatic in six patients (17.7%). AE showed bilateral involvement in 19 patients (55.9%), whereas only the right lung was involved in 12 patients (35.3%) and the left lung in three patients (8.8%). Of the patients, five underwent surgery due to PAE and 29 patients received medical therapy with albendazole. A total of three patients died during the follow-up period (2, 5 and 10 years after the diagnosis of PAE), while 31 patients continued with follow-up and treatment for a mean duration of 5.4±3.8 years (1–14 years). ConclusionsPatients with hepatic AE must, as a matter of course, be screened for possible lung involvement. Albendazole therapy may slow down disease progression in patients with widespread pulmonary involvement who are not eligible for surgery. ER -