Skip to main content
 
Notice: Users may be experiencing issues with displaying some pages on stanfordhealthcare.org. We are working closely with our technical teams to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.
Stanford Health Care

Long-Term Albendazole Effectiveness for Hepatic Cystic Echinococcosis

Long-Term Albendazole Effectiveness for Hepatic Cystic Echinococcosis AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE Salinas, J., Vildozola Gonzales, H., Astuvilca, J., Arce-Villavicencio, Y., Carbajal-Gonzalez, D., Talledo, L., Willig, J. H. 2011; 85 (6): 1075-1079

Abstract

Little is known about the long-term effectiveness of albendazole in the medical therapy of non-complicated hepatic cystic echinococcosis (HCE) in resource-constrained settings. We performed a retrospective review of patients starting albendazole for HCE in Lima, Peru from January 1997 to December 2007. Patients successfully recontacted underwent chart abstraction and clinical and ultrasonographic reevaluation. Descriptive statistics were used to delineate patient characteristics and treatment effectiveness at the conclusion of albendazole and after reevaluation. Patients (N = 27) were primarily female, mean age was 51. Initial treatment success at albendazole conclusion was 26% (N = 7) per patient and 37.5% (N = 24) per cyst. After 3.8 ± 2.5 years, albendazole success was 34% (N = 9) per patient and 40% (N = 24) per cyst. We found a gap in the effectiveness of albendazole HCE therapy compared with the efficacy reported in clinical trials. This underscores the need for further investigation into alternate therapeutic strategies for this neglected disease.

View details for DOI 10.4269/ajtmh.2011.11-0382

View details for Web of Science ID 000297781000021

View details for PubMedID 22144447

View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3225155