[ case report on tubular duplication of cervical esophagus]

ABSTRACT

Foregut duplication is commonly found in the posterior mediastinum. About 10-20% of these anomalies are associated with esophageal duplication. It can occur in all parts of esophagus. Although the duplication of cervical esophagus has been previously reported, a majority of it was found in the thoracic oesophagus. Infant esophageal duplication is usually associated to respiratory distress or asymptomatic thoracic mass, casually detected in x-ray. Case Report In this report the case was a 7 months old infant [7.5 kg] with the chief compliant of respiratory distress, fever and nutritional intolerance. Physical examination of the case showed dehydration, stridor, tachypnea, intercostal retraction and neck stiffness. Plain chest radiogram showed a dual cystic mass in the distal neck region. Neck and chest CT-scan showed cervical cystic lesion disseminated to the posterior mediastinum, probably propagated to the respiratory system. For treatment, cystic lesion attached to the esophagus was partially resected, esophagus was repaired and the remaining mucosa of the cyst was removed, then gastrostomy tube was inserted. Although the cervical esophageal duplication of cysts are rare in infant respiratory distress, they must be considered as one of differential diagnoses of the cervical masses