Epithelial Cyst in the Posterior Triangle of the Neck: Atypical Branchial Cyst or Cystic Lymph Node Metastasis?

We report the case of a 66-year-old man with a cervical neck mass located behind the left sternocleidomastoid muscle. To exclude malignancy, a full workup, including clinical, radiological, and cytological examination, was performed but failed to provide a definitive diagnosis. Histological analysis...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Domenic Vital, Gerhard F. Huber, Thomas F. Pézier, Matthias Rössle, Rudolf Probst, Gian-Marco Widmer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Otolaryngology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/912347
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Summary:We report the case of a 66-year-old man with a cervical neck mass located behind the left sternocleidomastoid muscle. To exclude malignancy, a full workup, including clinical, radiological, and cytological examination, was performed but failed to provide a definitive diagnosis. Histological analysis following excisional biopsy revealed a benign epithelial cyst, consistent with an atypically located branchial cyst. We describe an approach to the management of these neck masses and discuss several theories of the etiology of branchial cysts and how they may come to be abnormally located.
ISSN:2090-6765
2090-6773