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Journal of Neurosurgery
 
Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine
 
Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics
 
Neurosurgical Focus

Sciatica of nondisc origin: hydatid cyst of the sciatic nerve
Case report

Aydıner Kalacı, M.D., Teoman Toni Sevinç, M.D., and Ahmet Nedim Yanat, M.D.
Mustafa Kemal University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Antakya, Hatay, Turkey

Abbreviations used in this paper: CT = computed tomography; IHA = indirect hemagglutination; MR = magnetic resonance.

Address correspondence to: Aydıner Kalacı, M.D., Mustafa Kemal University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, 31100 Antakya, Hatay, Turkey. email: .

DOI: 10.3171/SPI/2008/8/4/394

The authors report on an 81-year-old woman with a primary hydatid cyst located in the posteromedial aspect of the thigh. She presented with sciatica, and the cyst was also associated with neurological dysfunction because of its intra-neural location. Diagnosis of a cyst in a nerve body is very rare, and the one reported here might be the first such case. So far, in all the previously reported cases in which there were also neurological findings, the cysts in the vertebral column were compressing the spinal cord or there was an intrapelvic mass compressing the sciatic nerve. Hydatid cyst should be considered in the differential diagnosis of sciatica, especially when treating patients who live in or have emigrated from areas of the world where Echinococcus granulosus is prevalent.

KEYWORDS:Echinococcus granulosus; hydatid cyst; sciatica; sciatic nerve.

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