Between 1976 and 1986 one hundred and ten children with pulmonary hydatid disease were treated surgically. Sixty five of the patients were males and 45 were females. We diagnosed hydatid cyst in 36 cases submitted in our clinic with hemoptysis. Thirty of the patients had cough, 16 had chest pain and dyspnea, 12 had purulent sputum and 8 cases had fever and anaphylactic phenomena. In most of the patients hydatid cysts were localised in the right lung. However, they had affinity for the lower lobes of both lungs, rather than the upper lobes. The radiological examination was found to be the most reliable diagnostic method. In the majority of our cases we performed thoracotomy + cystotomy + capitonnage, while in some cases we performed resection, like cystectomy, wedge resection and lobectomy. We did not encounter any serious operative and postoperative complications, except for one pleural empyema and a single case of mortality.

A series of 460 surgically treated cases of hydatid cyst of the lung is presented. Radiologic preoperative diagnosis was made in 90% of the patients. Cystotomy with subsequent capitonnage was performed in 395 cases, wedge resection in 27, lobectomy in 15 and segmental resection in 23 cases. After careful hemostasis, two drains were placed in the thorax and the thoracic cavity was closed. There were three postoperative deaths (0.6%) and two recurrences of cyst (0.4%) during follow-up investigation for periods up to 10 years.

A 14-year-old boy was investigated for unexplained tachycardia and multiple pulmonary emboli demonstrated by computed tomography. A right ventricular hydatid cyst was diagnosed by echocardiography and successfully excised under cardiopulmonary bypass.

196 cases of peripheral arterial injury presented to our clinic between 1976 and 1986 are summarised. Most of the cases were between 11 and 30 years of age and most of the injuries were by fire-arms and sharp weapons. The most common localisations were a. femoralis (29% cases), a. poplitea and branches (28%), a. brachialis injury (20%). The most common surgical measures were end-to-end anastomosis (43% cases) and venous orthograft replacement (17%). There were 5 mortalities. Factors affecting treatment success are discussed.

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