Cervicomediastinal Thymic Cyst - Report of a Case

Introduction

Thymic cysts are rare, benign, cervical or mediastinal lesions. They are considered to be the sequestrated remains of the thymopharyngeal duct structure. They can be located in any position along the normal descent route of the thymus gland, i.e., from the mandible angle, through the lateral neck, up to the sternal notch, with half of them extending into the anterior mediastinum [[1], [2]]. The diagnosis is usually made postoperatively, based on histological examination of the excised specimen. Complete surgical removal remains the treatment of choice. We present a case of an extreme-sized cervicomediastinal cystic lesion only postoperatively definitively diagnosed as a thymic cyst.

References

• 1 Nguyen Q, de Tar M, Wells W. et al . Cervical thymic cyst: case reports and review of the literature.  Laryngoscope. 1996;  106 247-252
• 2 Kelley D J, Gerber M E, Willging J P. Cervicomediastinal thymic cysts.  Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 1997;  39 139-146
• 3 Barrick B, O'Kell R T. Thymic cysts and remnant cervical thymus.  J Pediatr Surg. 1969;  4 355-358
• 4 Hendrickson M, Azarow K, Ein S. et al . Congenital thymic cysts in children - mostly misdiagnosed.  J Pediatr Surg. 1998;  33 821-825
• 5 Nicolas R, Guelfucci B, Roman S. et al . Congenital cysts and fistulas of the neck.  Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2000;  55 117-124
• 6 Berenos-Riley L, Manni J J, Coronel C, De Wilde P CM. Thymic cyst of the neck.  Acta Otolaryngol. 2005;  125 108-112
• 7 Petropoulos I, Konstantinidis I, Noussios G, Karagiannidis K, Kontzoglou G. Thymic cyst in the differential diagnosis of paediatric cervical masses.  B‐ENT. 2006;  2 35-37
• 8 Strollo D C, Rosado de Christenson M L, Jett J R. Primary mediastinal tumors. Part 1. Tumors of anterior mediastinum.  Chest. 1997;  112 511-522