Long-term follow-up of liver alveolar echinococcosis using echinococcosis multilocularis ultrasound classification

Table 1 Overview of patient characteristics as well as sonomorphological aspects of the total collective

	n (%)	mean ± SD
Number of patients	59 (100.0)
Number of sonographies	244 (100.0)
Sex
Female	38 (64.5)
Male	21 (35.6)
AE case definition
Confirmed	26 (44.1)
Probable	33 (55.9)
Age at first diagnosis (yr)		59.9 ± 16.9
Age at initial ultrasound (yr)		60.4 ± 16.8
Localisation of the reference lesion
Right hepatic	34 (57.6)
Left hepatic	19 (32.3)
Bihepatic	6 (10.2)
Number of AE lesions on US 1
1	29 (49.2)
2-5	28 (47.5)
6-10	1 (1.7)
> 10	1 (1.7)
Lesion size according to EMUC-US pattern (mm)		65.6 ± 39.7
Hailstorm pattern		67.4 ± 26.3
Pseudohemangioma-like pattern		83.5 ± 27.3
Pseudocystic pattern		113.7 ± 40.8
Metastasis-like pattern		21.7 ± 11.0
Drug therapy
Initial albendazole	58 (98.3)
Initial mebendazole	0 (0)
Therapy change to mebendazole	2 (3.4)
Continuous therapy	50 (86.2)
Discontinuous therapy	8 (13.8)
No therapy (rejection by patients)	1 (1.7)

AE: Alveolar echinococcosis; US: Ultrasound.

Table 2 Number of hepatic alveolar echinococcosis reference lesions at the time of ultrasound 1, subdivided by Echinococcosis Multilocularis Ulm Classification-ultrasound classification

Number of AE lesions US 1	n (%)	P value
Hailstorm pattern (n = 25)
1	15 (60)	Reference	1.0000	0.4385
> 1	10 (40)
2-5	9 (36)	-
6-10	1 (4)
> 10	0 (0)
Pseudohemangioma-like pattern (n = 10)
1	6 (60)	1.0000	Reference	0.6284
> 1	4 (40)
2-5	4 (40)	-
6-10	0 (0)
> 10	0 (0)
Pseudocystic pattern (n = 9)
1	7 (77.8)	0.4385	0.6284	Reference
> 1	2 (22.2)
2-5	2 (22.2)	-
6-10	0 (0)
> 10	0 (0)
Metastasis-like pattern (n = 15)
1	1 (6.7)	0.0009	0.0068	0.0007
> 1	14 (93.4)
2-5	13 (86.7)	-
6-10	0 (0)
> 10	1 (6.7)

AE: Alveolar echinococcosis; US: Ultrasound.

Table 3 Diameter of hepatic alveolar echinococcosis reference lesions at the time of ultrasound 1, subdivided by Echinococcosis Multilocularis Ulm Classification-ultrasound classification

	mean ± SD, min-max		P value
	EMUC-US	Hailstorm pattern (n = 25)
Pseudohemangioma-like pattern (n = 10)	83.5 ± 27.3, 44-121	67.4 ± 26.3, 12-124	0.1491
Pseudocystic pattern (n = 9)	113.7 ± 40.8, 54-198	67.4 ± 26.3, 12-124	0.0017
Metastasis-like pattern (n = 15)	21.7 ± 11.0, 7-44	67.4 ± 26.3, 12-124	< 0.0001
	EMUC-US	Pseudohemangioma-like pattern (n = 10)
Pseudocystic pattern (n = 9)	113.7 ± 40.8, 54-198	83.5 ± 27.3, 44-121	0.1304
Metastasis-like pattern (n = 15)	21.7 ± 11.0, 7-44	83.5 ± 27.3, 44-121	< 0.0001
	EMUC-US	Pseudocystic pattern (n = 9)
Metastasis-like pattern (n = 15)	21.7 ± 11.0, 7-44	113.7 ± 40.8, 54-198	< 0.0001

EMUC-US: Echinococcosis Multilocularis Ulm Classification-ultrasound.