ORIGINAL PAPER The effect of combination therapy with albendazole and praziquantel on hydatid cyst treatment Mahin Jamshidi & Minou Mohraz & Mehrangiz Zangeneh & Ali Jamshidi Received: 9 February 2008 / Accepted: 4 March 2008 / Published online: 11 April 2008 # Springer-Verlag 2008 Abstract The standard therapy of hydatid cyst is surgery but, in nonoperable patients and multiple organ involve- ment, medical therapy may be more useful. The efficacy of drugs especially in short-term treatment of hydatid cyst is unknown. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of combination therapy with albendazole and praziquantel in the treatment of hydatid diseases. In a nonrandomized quasi-experimental study, nine patients with multiple hydatid cysts were treated with albendazole (400 mg/twice a day) and praziquantel (40 mg/kg per day) twice a week for 4 weeks. This regimen was repeated for three courses with a 2-week interval between each one. The average follow-up period after treatment was 18 months. Response to treatment was assessed through the observation of the symptoms and radiologic findings (computed axial tomog- raphy scan, sonography, X-ray). Symptoms disappeared in seven (77.8%) patients and improved partially in two (22.2%) patients. Radiological assessment showed signifi- cant improvement in five (55.6%) and partial improvement in four (44.4%) patients. Combination therapy with albendazole and praziquantel is effective in the treatment of hydatid cyst and can be used as an alternative to surgery in disseminated and nonoperable cases. Introduction The parasitic infestation with Echinococcus had been the world's health problem from a long time ago. Surgery is the first choice for single hydatid cyst treatment nowadays, but it is not useful for patients with several lesions in different organs or for patients without appropriate physical conditions for surgery. On the other hand, the surgery results were not always successful and surgery sometimes had been associated with local recurrence or secondary dissemination (Anadol et al. 2001; EL-On 2002). So the medical treatments are used in some patients. These drugs are from the benzimidazoles family including albendazole and mebendazole. The efficacy of these drugs has been reported as different (Yasawy et al. 2001; Nutman and Weller 2001). Praziquantel is an isoquino- line that has been used in animal models, laboratory, and human hydatid cyst recently. It has been used solely or with benzimidazole (Amir-Jahed et al. 1975; Taylor et al. 1989; Teggi et al. 1993). So the aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of treatment with albendazole and praziquantel together in selected hydatid cyst patients. Materials and methods This study was a cross-sectional quasi-experimental study with nonrandomized sampling. The study was completed Parasitol Res (2008) 103:195–199 DOI 10.1007/s00436-008-0954-z M. Jamshidi (*) Department of Infectious Diseases, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Hormozgan, P.O. Box 13185-1678, Tehran, Iran e-mail: swt_f@yahoo.com M. Mohraz Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical Sciences/University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran M. Zangeneh Department of Infectious Diseases, Tehran Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran A. Jamshidi Department of Surgery, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Hormozgan, Iran