RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Excision of rare adult cervical thymic cyst
JF BMJ Case Reports
JO BMJ Case Reports
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e244187
DO 10.1136/bcr-2021-244187
VO 14
IS 10
A1 Zachary J Cromar
A1 Viraj N Shah
A1 Brandon Kamrava
A1 Kenneth R Nissim
A1 Jaylou M Velez-Torres
YR 2021
UL http://casereports.bmj.com/content/14/10/e244187.abstract
AB Cervical thymic cysts (CTCs) represent 1% of all cervical cystic masses. A review of the literature found that CTCs are typically asymptomatic, with a propensity to be left sided. CTCs often require histological evaluation for diagnosis. A 27-year-old male patient presented to an outpatient otolaryngology clinic with worsening bilateral jaw and neck pain and an incidental right-sided neck mass found on cervical MRI. Preoperative differential diagnosis included venolymphatic malformation versus branchial cleft cyst. Histological examination of the excised specimen provided diagnosis of a CTC. Postoperatively, the patient reported improvement in cervical pain. CTCs are a rare cause of lateral neck mass in young adults. Typical presentation included neck enlargement with no symptoms or in some cases compressive symptoms. It is important to consider CTCs when formulating a differential for a lateral neck mass.