Cervical Bronchogenic Cyst

ABSTRACT

Head and neck surgeons see many congenital cysts of the neck. Most of these cysts are thyroglossal duct cysts and branchial cleft cysts. Bronchogenic cysts are rare congenital malformations of the ventral foregut development. They are usually located in the mediastinum and intrapulmonary regions. Cervical bronchogenic cysts are unusual. Only 70 cases of bronchogenic cysts in the head and neck regions have been reported on and the majority of cases have been found in the pediatric population. We describe here a 61-year-old female who presented a palpable left neck mass. The preoperative diagnostic studies included chest X-ray and sonography-guided fine needle aspiration. The neck sonography showed the mass, but it could not rule out a pathologic lymph node. Aspirated material contained no cellular content. The mass was excised. The neck mass of the patient was diagnosed as a bronchogenic cyst. We suggest that the clinical observation of a lateral neck mass in an adult includes the possibility of a bronchogenic cyst in the differential diagnosis.