University Hospital for Infectious Diseases “Fran Mihaljević”

Aim To investigate the relationship between plasma and cyst concentrations of albendazolesulphoxide (ASO) and their effects on parasitological findings and disease recur-rence in patients with liver hydatidosis. Methods The study was conducted at the University Hos-pital for Infectious Diseases “Dr. Fran Mihaljević, ” Zagreb, Croatia, between August 2006 and January 2011. Consec-utive patients (N = 48, age 6-77 years) were treated with albendazole (3 × 5 mg/kg/d) over 28 days before surgical cyst removal (n = 34) or percutaneous evacuation (PAIR) (n = 14). Plasma ASO was determined on days 10 and 28 of treatment and cyst concentrations at surgery/PAIR. Results Disease recurred in 3 surgically treated patients. Variability of ASO concentrations was substantial. Plas-ma concentrations on day 10 were higher than on da