Severe dyspnea and dysphagia resulting from an aberrant cervical thymus

Abstract

A 5-month-old infant presented with severe dyspnea and dysphagia resulting from a right-sided cervical mass. At 5 months of age, a large aberrant thymus was excised, resulting in the disappearance of all symptoms. Pathological examination showed normal thymus tissue. Since the preoperative chest X-ray film showed a normal thymic shadow and the T-lymphocyte functions were normal, we conclude that this was not an ectopic gland but an undescended thymic implant.

Ectopic cervical thymus associated with infant death: 2 case reports and literature review

“…Ectopic cervical thymus (ECT) is a rare congenital anomaly found in 1% of pediatric autopsies [1]. Most cases follow an indolent course, but several cases have shown life-threatening symptoms such as respiratory distress due to tracheal compression [2][3][4][5]. Only 1 fatal case, caused by mechanical asphyxia, has been previously reported [6].…”

Cervical thymic rebound after cancer treatment

“…Rarely, dysphagia [6], stridor, or respiratory distress [7] may be present. Most cases are seen in children, but ectopic cervical thymus has been described in an otherwise asymptomatic adult [8].…”

Inspiratory stridor and dysphagia in two newborn infants caused by ectopic thymus tissue

“…There is a male predominance of almost 3:1 [9,15]. Most of the aberrant thymic masses are asymptomatic [2], but they can cause severe respiratory compromise and dysphagia by intrinsic obstruction of the aerodigestive organs [5,16]. Additional symptoms are stridor, hoarse- ness, vocal cord paralysis, or cervical pain [11,14].…”