Ann Thorac Surg 2002;74:2199
© 2002 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Images in cardiothoracic surgery
Cardiac hydatid cyst located in the interventricular septum
Hakan Posacioglu, MD*a,
Sanem Nalbantgil, MDa,
Mert Özbakkaloglu, MDb,
Halil Halil, MDb,
Suat Buket, MDa
a Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Ege University Medical School, 
zmir, Turkey
b Department of Cardiology, zmir Tepecik Hospital, zmir, Turkey
* Address reprint requests to Dr Posacioglu, Ege University Medical School, Kalp ve Damar Cerrahisi Anabilim Dali, 35100 zmir, Turkey
e-mail: posacioglu{at}yahoo.com
A 44-Year-old man presented with dyspnea and palpitation on exertion. His physical examination was unremarkable. T wave was negative in leads V1–4 on the electrocardiogram. Cardiac silhouette was slightly enlarged on chest roentgenogram. Routine blood tests were normal. Echocardiography revealed a cystic formation of 4.0 cm by 3.5 cm in dimension located at the interventricular septum bulging into the right ventricle (Fig 1: LA = left atrium; LV = left ventricle; RA = right atrium; RV = right ventricle).
There were no echocardiographic signs of obstruction. The computed tomographic scandemonstrated a well-defined cystic lesion with regular borders on the right ventricle located next to the anterior ventricular septum (Fig 2).
Serologic tests were positive for hydatid cyst. No other visceral localization of the disease was found. The patient underwent surgical removal of the cyst with the aid of cardiopulmonary bypass. A mass located within the right ventricle, to the left anterior descending artery and near the apex was observed (Fig 3).
The cyst was punctured and a clear fluid was aspirated. The myocardium was then opened and the cyst was removed. Histologic examination of the aspirate and cyst revealed hydatid condition. The postoperative period was uneventful and the patient was discharged without symptoms. The echocardiogram taken after the operation was normal.
