Cystic lesions of the neck include
branchial cleft cysts, thyroglossal duct cysts, lymphangioma, dermoid cysts,
epidermoid cysts, infections/inflammatory masses, cystic lesions of the
thyroid, thymic cysts, laryngoceles, ranulas, cystic lesions of salivary
glands, cystic metastatic lymph nodes, neurogenic tumours, rare vascular
lesions and cervical bronchogenic cysts. The thyroglossal duct cyst accounts
for 70% of all congenital neck masses.
The thyroid gland descends from the
base of the tongue at the level of the foramen caecum into the anterior
neck through the thyroglossal duct. This duct usually undergoes involution
but in seven percent of patients it remains patent. The ducts have an
epithelial lining which - in the presence of infection or inflammation produces
excess secretions that cause ductal dilatation and cyst formation. The patient
may seek medical attention for cosmetic concerns regarding an asymptomatic cyst
or when the cyst becomes symptomatic.
In this small case series, the
statistics reported in the age groups less than fifty years compared favorably
to international statistics. Ahura et al. and Fischer et al. also reported a
greater percentage of patients over fifty years that developed cysts. No
particular reason was found to account for this.
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