Cervical Thymic Cyst Presenting as a Solitary Cervical Cystic Mass in a 57-Year-Old Woman : A Case Report and Literature Review

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Cervical thymic cyst (CTC) is a rare congenital disease that can appear during the developmental course of the thymus. CTCs rarely present in adulthood and can be difficult to diagnose. We present a case of CTC mimicking a cystic lymph node in an adult patient. A 57-year-old female presented a with a left left-sided painless neck mass, which was found in two weeks before prior. Computed tomography (CT) finding showed a 2-cm-sized cystic mass with wall enhancement in contact with the left common carotid artery. Fine-needle aspiration cytology was non-diagnostic. Surgical exploration revealed a cystic mass surrounded by fatty tissue. CTC within the ectopic thymus was diagnosed postoperatively with demonstration of Hassall’s corpuscle and the cystic wall lined by ciliated columnar or squamous cells. CTCs are extremely rare in adults. They are difficult to be diagnosed preoperatively. Because CTCs can present as a solitary cystic mass mimicking a solitary cystic lymph node, they should be ruled out in the diagnostic course. As known previously, the treatment is the complete excision of the cyst along with surrounding ectopic thymic tissue. (J Clinical Otolaryngol 2020;31:271-275)