[Focus on alveolar echinococcosis].

Abstract

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a zoonotic disease caused by a cestode of the Taenidae family: Echinococcus multilocularis. Alveolar echinococcosis is a serious parasitosis, which represents a major public health issue. The diagnosis of AE is based on clinical presentation, epidemiology, lesion characteristics on imaging and serological test results. Surgical management, when possible, is the preferred option, under antiparasitic cover. When surgery is not possible, the treatment is only medicated and long, sometimes for life. Although great progress has been made in the last 10 years to improve the diagnosis of AE, particularly with the development of molecular techniques and the increasing use of imaging - often performed for other indications, thus allowing for earlier detection of the infection - therapeutic options remain limited. Indeed, drug treatment with albendazole, a parasitostatic molecule sometimes responsible for serious side effects (hepatic cytolysis), remains the main effective and available alternative. In case of imidazole intolerance and impossible surgical access, some patients may be in therapeutic dead end.