Congenital fistula of the fourth branchial pouch.
(1998) European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology — Vol. 255, n° 6, p. 322-324 (1998)
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- Abstract
- Between 1986 and 1995, 128 patients were treated for various head and neck congenital malformations at Saint-Luc University Hospital, Louvain. We report three cases of fourth branchial pouch cysts requiring surgical removal. One of these cases presented with a third branchial pouch remnant on the same side and subsequently a fourth branchial pouch sinus. To our knowledge, this is the first case published in the literature. A fourth branchial pouch sinus tract can become manifest clinically by recurrent episodes of neck abscess or acute suppurative thyroiditis (especially in infants). The tract can be identified with a barium swallow during the period of latency and hypopharyngeal endoscopy under general anesthesia. Total excision of the fistula with dissection up to the pyriform sinus with or without a left thyroid gland lobectomy and isthmectomy is the treatment of choice.
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Citations
Hamoir, M., Rombaux, P., Cornu, A. S., & Clapuyt, P. (1998). Congenital fistula of the fourth branchial pouch. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, 255(6), 322-324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004050050069 (Original work published 1998)