CT and MR Findings of Extensive Lumbosacral Hydatid Disease

Abstract

Spinal hydatid disease is an uncommon disease encountered in the endemic area. The vertebrae are the bones most involved by Echinococcus granulosus. A 52-year-old patient with low back pain was evaluated by lumbosacral radiography, CT, and MR. Plain radiography showed expansion and destruction of transverse and spinous process. CT and MR revealed bone scalloping of posterior border vertebrae, and multiloculated- multiseptated cysts in the spinal canal, paravertebral soft tissues and sacral bone. The cysts had thin hypointense walls on both T1 and T2-weighted sequences. There is no pathognomonic radiological finding of spinal hydatid disease, but radiological assessment is essential for differential diagnosis and operation planning.