Oropharyngeal approach as a surgical alternative for cervical lymphatic malformation with airway compression.

Cervical lymphatic malformation is an infrequent benign congenital malformation of the lymphatic system, whose rapid growing capacity can compromise the airway. Here we present a 3-month-old male with severe respiratory impairment showing pharyngeal, cervical and mediastinal lymphatic malformation. Transoral surgery maintaining the mucosa allowed removal of numerous cystic lumps occupying the whole pharynx up to the pyriform sinus, surrounding the common carotid artery.

Total persistence of thyroglossal duct with direct communication between cyst and foramen caecum.

During embryonic development the thyroid gland migrates through the thyroglossal duct from the pharyngeal endoderm to the anterior cervical region. The final step in this process is the total obliteration of the thyroglossal duct. A case is presented of a patient with a thyroglossal cyst together with a complete failure of the obliteration of the duct, which caused regurgitations of mucopurulent material after the expression of the cyst.