The hydatid cyst (echinococcus granulosus) constitutes a major public health problem in endemic regions especially Africa, Asis, Latin America and Australia where their main activities are cattle breeding. Splenic hydatid cyst is very rare with an annual incidence between 0.5% and 4% 12. The most common sites of hydatid disease are the liver (60-70%), which acts as a first filter and the lungs (10-40%), which acts assecond filter. The rare sites include spleen, thyroid, gall bladder, central nervous system, kidney, psoas sheet, retroperitoneal region, orbit. Practically any organ can be infested by hydatid disease 4.

The parasite's life cycle requires two hosts, the fox or dog which is the major definitive host and the rodents which are intermediate hosts. Man is an accidental intermediate host, becomes contaminated by eating raw vegetables contaminated by the faeces of infected carnivores or directly by touching these animals and this is the occasion of immunosuppression following an inflammatory or viral or bacterial disease. that hydatid disease is discovered 34.

The mechanism of splenic involvement is poorly understood. Arterial dissemination of an echinococcosis granulosus embryo that has passed hepatic and pulmonary filters seems the most likely theory 5.

Berlot is the first to describe the splenic hydatid cyst discovered on autopsy in 1790 4 therefore the circumstances of discovery are variable and depend on the evolutionary stage of the disease, echinococcosis granulosus can be manifested by atypical pain in the left hypochondrium and nonspecific, low back pain or by a palpable mass, sometimes complications such as tachycardia, dyspnea, deterioration of the general condition (in our case) or even dysphagia when the volume of the cyst is large 6.

In practice, the biological examinations are normal except for a slight eosinophilia, the serological tests proposed for the diagnosis of echinococcosis granulosus are first, the sensitive Elisa test, if it is positive, it must be followed by a another test that of Western-Bloot to confirm the diagnosis 78.

Ultrasound and computed tomography CT play an important role in the diagnosis of echinococcosis granulosus allowing to better specify the site and the relationships with neighboring organs, the most frequently found appearance is that of a cystic mass with a wall thin with sometimes an appearance of detachment of membranes or the presence of daughter vesicles 456.

Splenic hydatid cyst poses a diagnostic dilemma for clinicians with many pathologies such as angiosarcoma in its cystic form, lymphangioma, epidermal cyst and dermaid 23689. The main complication is the rupture of the cyst leading to death from anaphylactic shock 14610.

The puncture aspiration of the liquid remains a very delicate intervention because of the risk of the passage of the parasites in the blood circulation but the standard treatment is total or partial splenectomy followed by medical treatment based on albendazole 67910.