[52-year-old patient with subcutaneous space-occupying lesion in immunosuppression]

Abstract

We report the case of a 52-years-old male patient, who was diagnosed with subcutaneous alveolar echinococcosis 6 months after liver transplantation for HCV-related cirrhosis. Nether the explanted nor the transplantated liver revealed an echinococcus focus. Therefore a rare primary extrahepatic manifestation was likely. Interestingly, the echinococcal larvae had developed protoscolices. The development of mature tapeworms in human is a rarity, which could be related to the immunosuppressive therapy after liver transplantation. The patient was curatively treated by surgical removal of the subcutaneous tumor and a postoperative therapy with albendazole. Furthermore, HCV reinfection (genotype 2b) was successfully treated with interferone alpha 2b and ribavirine for 6 months.