Thyroid involvement in cystic echinococcosis: a systematic review

Thyroid Hydatid Cyst (THC), a pathological state induced by the larval form of Echinococcus granulosus, represents a multifaceted clinical entity with nonspecific symptoms, making both diagnosis and treatment intricate. The current understanding of THC’s attributes is somewhat limited. To gain a broader perspective on the disease’s clinical and epidemiological characteristics, we have systematically reviewed the existing literature.

We performed an extensive review of articles on THC across four key scientific databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Our study encompassed all patients diagnosed with THC through post-surgical pathology or Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) examinations, extracting clinical, epidemiological, and therapeutic data of THC patients from publications up to October 2023.

From 770 articles, 57 met our criteria, detailing 75 THC patients. The gender ratio was 2.36 females per one male. The patients averaged 36.1 years old, with common symptoms including neck mass, hoarseness, shortness of breath, and dysphagia. The left lobe was involved in most patients, and only 21.3% had extrathyroidal involvement. Cysts averaged 36.4 mm in diameter, with cystic nodules being the most frequent imaging finding (91.2%). Serological tests were performed for 42.6% of cases, of which 62.5% were positive. Surgery was undertaken in 71 patients (94.6%).

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) of the thyroid should be considered as part of the differential diagnosis in patients with cervicofacial mass, especially in endemic countries. The present study provides reliable data to improve our understanding of the features of the disease for a better diagnosis and management.