Background: This study aims to evaluate the results of a relatively large cohort of patients with primary mediastinal hydatid cysts who were treated with surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 24 patients with primary mediastinal hydatid cysts (14 males, 10 females; mean age 32 years; range 11 to 73 years) who were diagnosed between January 1985 and January 2015 and surgically treated in our clinic. Of the patients, nine were performed right thoracotomy, seven were performed left thoracotomy, five were performed video assisted thoracoscopic surgery, and three were performed median sternotomy. The most frequently performed procedure was total cystectomy (n=19, 79.2%). Five patients required cystotomy and partial cystectomy due to dense adhesion to vital structures (20.8%).

Results: One patient developed pleural effusion in the postoperative period. The median duration of hospital stay was 6.5 days (range, 1 to 13 days). Surgical treatment outcomes of cysts were satisfactory. Patients were administered 10 mg/kg/day oral albendazole postoperatively in divided doses twice a day. No morbidity, mortality, or recurrence was observed postoperatively.

Conclusion: Although primary mediastinal hydatid cysts are rare, they should be kept in mind in differential diagnosis of mediastinal cysts particularly in endemic regions. Recently, thoracoscopic treatment of mediastinal hydatid cysts is carried out efficiently and safely.

Keywords : Hydatid cyst; mediastinum; surgery