Article Text
Summary
A 17-year-old man initially presented to his primary care physician with throat pain for 1 week and was started on amoxicillin. After four additional days of ongoing pain and difficulty swallowing with decreased oral intake, he presented to the emergency department. Exam showed fullness to the right posterior oropharynx and palpable mass in the right neck without stridor. Initial imaging was soft tissue neck CT with contrast, which showed cystic 8 cm mass in the parapharyngeal space. Patient additionally underwent MRI, which showed an 8.6 cm mass in the right posterior oropharynx with obliteration of the vallecula. Differential diagnosis included abscess; therefore, ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist was consulted for possible drainage. Intraoperatively, there was no abscess; alternatively a biopsy was obtained, which was identified by pathology as a ganglioneuroma. Patient was referred to paediatric ENT specialist, underwent extensive resection confirming diagnosis of ganglioneuroma and did well postoperatively.
- ear, nose and throat/otolaryngology
- paediatrics
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Footnotes
Contributors JB was responsible for drafting the manuscript, obtaining radiology and clinical photos with descriptions and final editing. QA was responsible for obtaining pathology slides, drafting the slide descriptions and final editing. AS was responsible for drafting pathology slide descriptions and editing the final manuscript.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.