ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2022
Evaluation of a structured treatment discontinuation in patients with inoperable alveolar echinococcosis on long-term benzimidazole therapy: A retrospective cohort study.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Alveolar Echinococcosis in the Early 2020s: A Systematic Review.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Polarization of Hepatic Macrophages in Alveolar Echinococcosis and Its Role in Remodeling the Immune Microenvironment.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2026Review
- Sectional Imaging for Alveolar Echinococcosis.Visceral medicine · 2025Article
- Circulating microRNA signatures for echinococcosis.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- [Non-viral infections of the liver].Innere Medizin (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2024Review
- Article
- Vascular pathology in patients with alveolar echinococcosis: framework for assessment and clinical management - a retrospective case series.BMJ open gastroenterology · 2023Article
- Case Report: Amphotericin B and Mefloquine as a Salvage Treatment of Alveolar Echinococcosis.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Article
- Monoclonal antibody-based localization of major diagnostic antigens in metacestode tissue, excretory/secretory products, and extracellular vesicles ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Article
- Proteomic profiling of serum extracellular vesicles identifies diagnostic markers for echinococcosis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Serological Assays for Alveolar and Cystic Echinococcosis-A Comparative Multi-Test Study in Switzerland and Kyrgyzstan.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Characteristics and Clinical Course of Alveolar Echinococcosis in Patients with Immunosuppression-Associated Conditions: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Evaluation of Eosinophilic Cationic Protein as a Marker of Alveolar and Cystic Echinococcosis.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesAlveolar echinococcosis (AE) is an orphan zoonosis of increasing concern in endemic areas, including Europe. It frequently presents in an advanced, inoperable stage, that requires life-long parasitostatic benzimidazole therapy. In some patients, long-term therapy leads to negative anti-Em18 antibody ELISA and PET. It is disputed, whether these patients are truly cured and treatment can be safely discontinued. Our aim was to retrospectively assess long-term outcome of 34 patients with inoperable AE who participated in a previous study to determine feasibility of benzimidazole treatment cessation.
methodsRetrospective analysis of medical charts was undertaken in all 34 AE patients who participated in our previous study. Of particular interest were AE recurrence or other reasons for re-treatment in patients who stopped benzimidazole therapy and whether baseline clinical and laboratory parameters help identify of patients that might qualifiy for treatment cessation. Additionally, volumetric measurement of AE lesions on contrast-enhanced cross-sectional imaging was performed at baseline and last follow-up in order to quantify treatment response.
results12 of 34 patients stopped benzimidazole therapy for a median of 131 months. 11 of these patients showed stable or regressive AE lesions as determined by volumetric measurement. One patient developed progressive lesions with persistently negative anti-Em18 antibody ELISA but slight FDG-uptake in repeated PET imaging. At baseline, patients who met criteria for treatment cessation demonstrated higher lymphocyte count and lower total IgE.
conclusionTreatment cessation is feasible in inoperable AE patients, who demonstrate negative anti-Em18 antibody ELISA and PET on follow-up. Close monitoring including sectional imaging is strongly advised.
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