Two cases of ectopic cervical thymus: Case reports and a review of the literature

Park, Jung Je; Kim, Jae Won; Kim, Jin Pyeong; Ahn, Seong Ki; Jeong, Jae Ho; Jeon, Sea Yuong

doi:10.1016/j.anl.2005.09.011

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Thymus is the central lymphoid organ of infancy and is responsible for the formation of mature T lymphocytes [8]. Thymus arises bilaterally from the 3 rd , and to a lesser extent 4 th branchial pouches starting from the fifth or sixth gestational week [4,9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At this point, thymus consists only of epithelial cells, but from week 9 to 14-16, lymphoid cells from the liver and bone marrow migrate to the thymus, which then differentiates into cortex and medulla [9]. Thymus may fail to descend, or even when it descends to anterior mediastinum, there may be thymic remnants at any point along its path [4,8]. In such cases, ectopic cervical thymic tissue can be encountered from the angle of mandible to the manubrium [8].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thymus may fail to descend, or even when it descends to anterior mediastinum, there may be thymic remnants at any point along its path [4,8]. In such cases, ectopic cervical thymic tissue can be encountered from the angle of mandible to the manubrium [8]. The level of thyroid is the most common site for ectopic cervical thymus, which may be due to the close relationship of the descent of the two organs [4,10].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been reported that 6% of ectopic cervical thymus can cause dysphagia, dyspnea or stridor; however, to our knowledge no such symptoms have been reported in cases with IET [8]. There have been rare cases of thymoma, thymic carcinoma and lymphocyte-predominant lymphoma arising from the ectopic thymic tissue [10,22,23].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intrathyroidal ectopic thymus in children: a sonographic survey

et al. 2017

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Aims: Intrathyroidal ectopic thymus (IET) is being increasingly reported in the radiology literature. Most of the reports are of individual cases or small series and prevalence and natural course of the pathology is not well known. The purpose of this study is to establish the prevalence of IET in children and report long term follow-up results.Material and methods: In 180 children who were examined by ultrasound (US) for other reasons, 7 patients were indentified with IET. Together with the other seven children who were already under follow-up for IET (diagnosed using US criteria), these 14 patients were followed up with US for 30 months. Size, shape, location, echotexture and internal echoes of the lesions were evaluated.Results: There were 16 lesions in 14 children. The most common appearance was a fusiform hypoechoic lesion, with punctate and linear internal echoes and well-defined but slightly irregular borders located posteriorly in the lower thirds of the thyroid. In follow-up, there were no changes in echotexture, shape or border. In 3 patients, the lesion became slightly smaller, in a 10-year-old boy slightly larger, and in an 11-year old boy the lesion disappeared. In a patient with bilateral lesions, one lesion slightly decreased in size.Conclusions: IET in children may be more common than thought. Its growth reflects that of a normal thymus. Awareness of this entity is important in order not to misdiagnose them, especially as papillary cancer, and to prevent unnecessary interventions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intrathyroidal ectopic thymus in children: a sonographic survey

et al. 2017

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“…18 The thymus has its greatest relative size at birth and reaches its greatest absolute size by puberty, after which time it undergoes slow involution. The variability in size, configuration, and location of the thymus is considerable, which explains the possibility of mimicking pathologic mediastinal and neck masses.…”

Section: -13mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ectopic intrathyroidal thymus misdiagnosed as a thyroid nodule: Sonographic appearance

Megremis

Stiakaki

Tritou

et al. 2008

J of Clinical Ultrasound

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An 11-year-old boy under suppression therapy for a solitary thyroid nodule was referred for sonographic examination. The diagnosis had been made at another institution, based only on sonography without cytopathologic verification. A small fusiform lesion, which was homogeneously hypoechoic with diffuse bright internal echoes, was demonstrated in the right lower pole of the thyroid. A normal elongated thymus with a cervical component was then found connected to the thyroid with an accessory lobe, which was embedded in the lower thyroid pole mimicking a solitary nodule. We discuss the developmental abnormalities of the thymus and their clinical significance in childhood with a brief review of the literature.

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Thymus

Varga¹

2016

Bergman's Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation

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Two cases of ectopic cervical thymus: Case reports and a review of the literature

Cited by 21 publications

References 6 publications

Intrathyroidal ectopic thymus in children: a sonographic survey

Intrathyroidal ectopic thymus in children: a sonographic survey

Ectopic intrathyroidal thymus misdiagnosed as a thyroid nodule: Sonographic appearance

Thymus

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