Maimaitinijiati Y, Meng Y, Chen X. Is long-term follow-up without surgical treatment a valid option for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis? World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28(24): 2775-2777 [PMID: 35979161 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i24.2775]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xiong Chen, MD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, People’s Hospital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, No. 91 Tianchi Road, Tianshan District, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. 1512237458@qq.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Yusufukadier Maimaitinijiati, Yuan Meng, Xiong Chen, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, People’s Hospital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Urumqi 830001, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China
Yusufukadier Maimaitinijiati, School of Clinical Medicine, Medical College of Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Author contributions: Maimaitinijiati Y performed the research and wrote the letter; Meng Y and Chen X revised the letter.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiong Chen, MD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, People’s Hospital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, No. 91 Tianchi Road, Tianshan District, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. 1512237458@qq.com
Received: February 24, 2022 Peer-review started: February 24, 2022 First decision: April 5, 2022 Revised: April 13, 2022 Accepted: June 3, 2022 Article in press: June 3, 2022 Published online: June 28, 2022 Processing time: 120 Days and 5.4 Hours
Abstract
We read the article titled, “Long-term follow-up of liver alveolar echinococcosis using echinococcosis multilocularis ultrasound classification,” by Schuhbaur J with great interest. However, we found some worthwhile issues that we believe should be discussed with the authors, and have provided our comments in this letter. It would be valuable if the authors could provide further information about the clinical stages, follow-up time, and clinical outcomes of the patients.
Core Tip: Although many experts suggest that radical surgery combined with albendazole treatment is the optimal option for alveolar echinococcosis patients, no clear consensus has been reached on whether long-term treatment using albendazole alone without any surgical intervention can cure or control the disease. Therefore, some professional issues need to be clarified by discussion with peers, in order to benefit as many patients as possible.
