This ERN RARE-LIVER Webinar was held on 14 October 2025 at 5pm (CET) by the ERN RARE-LIVER Alveolar Echinococcosis Working Group.
Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a rare and chronic parasitic disease caused by the larval form (metacestode) of Echinococcus multilocularis. In most cases, AE is detected in the liver as a slow-growing tumour-like lesion, which may cause local complications, such as obstruction of bile ducts, liver vessels and portal vein. The prognosis of untreated alveolar echinococcosis is poor; however, the life expectancy with adequate treatment is nowadays almost normal. With complete surgical resection of the parasitic lesion followed by two years of benzimidazole therapy, a definitive cure of AE may be achieved. However, many patients present initially with advanced disease, considered inoperable. In these patients, conservative treatment with lifelong continuous administration of benzimidazole is necessary. Notably, newly introduced interventional therapy (i.e., thermal ablation) for inoperable manifestations of AE have shown promising results in initial case series, and may impact patient treatment plans for patients with inoperable AE in the future.