ECTOPIC CERVICAL THYMUS IN A 12-YEAR-OLD BOY: A Case Report

Abstract

The case of a 12-year-old boy with ectopic cervical thymus is reported. This is a rare differential diagnosis in cervical tumors in childhood. The clinical symptoms might present as complications; in rare cases malignant transformations have been reported. The diagnosis ectopic cervical thymus can be achieved only histologically. Due to possible malignant transformation, it is mandatory to excise this thymus tumor totally.

Infant ectopic cervical thymus one case report: Diagnostic and management difficulties

“…The etiology of tumorous changes in the neck is diverse, from benign processes resulting from injuries, inflammation of developmental anomalies, to neoplasms (Bernig et al, 2000;Bhople et al, 2007). Among developmental anomalies in infants and children, ectopic location of the thymus is most infrequently described in the literature (Chowhan et al, 2010).…”

Ectopic Thymic Hyperplasia in a Patient Treated for Burkitt Lymphoma

“…Aberrant solid cervical thymus being usually presents as an asymptomatic anterior neck mass that must be differentiated from other cervical tumor masses. 4,5,11 The presence of thymic tissue in the middle mediastinum in our patient was a very unusual presentation of an ectopic thymus given the typical descent of the thymus in the anterior neck to the anterior mediastinum. However, it is possible that some cell foci from the third and fourth pharyngeal pouches, located adjacent to the pericardial sac, migrated with the pericardial sac into the thoracic space destined to become the middle mediastinum.…”

“…Very few cases of an ectopic thymus have been reported as incidental findings. [4][5][6] Ectopic thymus tissue resulting from disturbance of thymus embryogenesis and abnormalities occurring during embryogenesis or during thymus descent can lead to an ectopic cervical thymus. 3,4 We report the case of a 4-year-old boy with true thymic hyperplasia from an ectopic thymus located in the middle mediastinum after successful treatment of Burkitt lymphoma.…”

Cervical thymic remnants in children

“…Thymic remnants are commonly found within the carotid sheath and may adhere to the carotid artery, jugular vein, vagus nerve, or they may be closely associated with the recurrent laryngeal nerve, thyroid gland, parathyroid glands [5]. Superior extension of these masses may involve fibrous attachments to the cranial base posterior to the styloid process [6,32].…”