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.
References
Barrick B, OhKell RT (1969) Thymic cysts and remnant cervical thymus. J Pediatr Surg 4:355–892
Gilmour JR (1941) Some developmental abnormalities of the thymus and parathyroids. J Pathol Bacteriol 52:215–218
Guba AM, Adam AE, Jacques DA, Chambers RG (1978) Cervical presentation of thymic cysts. Am J Surg 136:430–436
Indeglia RA, Shea MA, Grage TB (1967) Congenital cysts of the thymus gland. Arch Surg 94:149–156
Katz SM, Chatten J, Bishop HD (1977) Massive thymic enlargement. Report of a case of gross thymic hyperplasia in a child. Am J Clin Pathol 68:786–792
Lwis MR (1968) Persistence of the thymus in the cervical area. J Pediatr Surg 61: 887–892
McLood DM, Karandy EJ (1981) Aberrant cervical thymus. Arch Otolaryngol 107:179–180
O'Shea PA, Pansatianful B, Farnes F (1978) Giant thymic hyperplasia infancy: immunologic, histologic and ultrastructural observations. Lab Invest 38:391–392
Tahka H (1951) The weight of the thymus in childen of 0–2 years of age. Acta Paediatr 40:469–485
Tovi F, Mares AJ (1978) The aberrant cervical thymus. Am J Surg 136:631–637
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bistritzer, T., Tamir, A., Oland, J. et al. Severe dyspnea and dysphagia resulting from an aberrant cervical thymus. Eur J Pediatr 144, 86–87 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00491936
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00491936