HEPATIC CYSTIC ECHINOCOCCOSIS: SERODIAGNOSIS IN RELATION TO IMAGING PERFORMANCE
HALA M. EL-ASKARY1, AMR ABDEL-RAOUF2, MOHAMED HASSANI2, SOHEIR A. ISMAIL3 AND MOHAMED S BADR4
1Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University.
2Department of Surgery, National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute.
3Department of Tropical Medicine, National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research institute.
4Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University.
Human cystic echinococcosis is a tropical infectious disease that results in morbidity and mortality in millions of human cases. The disease course is usually slow and the patient tends to remain asymptomatic for many years. The clinical diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis (CE) is frequently difficult, hence always relying on imaging and serological methods and the latter still having a complementary role as its accuracy in assessing cyst viability is still unsatisfactory. The present study aimed to expose the relation between the serological outcomes and radiological findings in cases with hepatic cystic echinococcosis. Radiological categorization of included cases, based on ultrasonographic findings, was done according to WHO classification. Using home-prepared crude Eg1 antigen, sera tested for the presence of antibodies against Echinococcus granulosus antigens, using IHA, ELISA and counter-immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP). Conclusively, the diagnostic approach to hepatic cystic echinococcosis should involve a combination of imaging and serological analysis to confirm the clinical suspicion.
June 2016