Congenital Cervical Bronchogenic Cyst - An Unusual Cause of a Lump in the Neck

Congenital cysts of the neck in children are not uncommon. Most of them are hygromas, or thyroglossal, branchial, or less commonly, thymic cysts. Bronchogenic cysts are rarely seen initially as a neck mass. We report herein on a case of a 7-month-old male presenting with a neck swelling since the age of 9 days. When the mass was first noticed, it was about 1 cm in diameter. At the age of 5 months, he was brought to our clinic, and the neck mass was then about 4cm in diameter. It was a non-painful, soft anterior neck mass, and sonography showed a cystic lesion without connection to the trachea or esophagus. Total excision through a lower-neck transverse incision was performed when he was 7 months old , and microscopic examination demonstrated a cyst lined by respire-tory epithelium. There was no recurrence after 8 months of follow-up. Bronchogenic cyst should be included in the differenctial diagnosis of congenital cystic lesions of the neck.