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Purpose of Review: Cystic echinococcosis is a chronic, complex, and neglected disease. The need for a simple classification of cyst morphology that would provide an accepted framework for scientific and clinical work on cystic echinococcosis has been addressed by two documents issued by the WHO Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis in 2003 (cyst classification) and in 2010 (Expert consensus for the diagnosis and treatment of echinococcosis)., Recent Findings: Here we evaluate the use of the WHO Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis classification of hepatic cystic echinococcosis, the acceptance by clinicians of recommendations regarding the use of albendazole, and the implementation of the long-term follow-up of patients with hepatic cystic echinococcosis in the scientific literature since the WHO Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis recommendations were issued., Summary: Of the publications included in our review, 71.2% did not indicate any classification, whereas 14% used the WHO Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis classification. Seventy-four percent reported the administration of peri-interventional albendazole, although less than half reported its modality, and 51% the length of patient follow-up. A joint effort is needed from the scientific community to encourage the acceptance and implementation of these three key issues in the clinical management of cystic echinococcosis.

Objective: To submit a proposal for the classification of ultrasonographic image in patients with hepatic cystic echinococcosis, on the basis of characteristic and distribution of ultrasonic image of hydatid cysts in cases and systematic observation on dynamic changes of sonographic image under treatment with emulsion albendazole and in relation to clinical efficacy., Methods: The ultrasonic image of 645 cysts in 497 cases with liver cystic echinococcosis was classified. The distribution of different types of image in patients was analyzed. A comparative analysis of correspondence between the sonographic type and clinical efficacy was made in association with the rule of changes in ultrasonic features during chemotherapy., Results: The ultrasonographic image of hydatid cysts was divided into six types. The distribution of ultrasonic types in patients reflected the process of natural evolution of cysts in human bodies. The dynamic change of ultrasonic image during treatment was identical with the natural evolution process of hydatid cysts., Conclusion: The proposal for ultrasonographic classification submitted reflects a long evolutionary process from growth to death of hydatid cysts in human body. The dynamic change of hydatid cysts during chemotherapy indicated that the effect of drug has accelerated this process. Therefore this classification may be applied in diagnosis and to judge the chemotherapeutic efficacy of cystic echinococcosis.