2006 Volume 20 Issue 7 Pages 965-969
A 5-year-old girl was referred to our hospital with a fever and cough. Radiological and laboratory studies revealed a lung abscess in the right upper lobe due to compression of the right upper bronchus by a mediastinal cystic tumor. The tumor was extirpated and diagnosed pathologically as a congenital esophageal cyst. However, the lung abscess did not improve and a right upper lobectomy was performed 14 days after the first operation. The postoperative course was uneventful. We analyzed 165 cases of esophageal cysts reported in the Japanese literature, including the present case. Of 137 cases with information regarding age and symptoms available, 80 (58.4%) had a total of 101 symptoms. Twenty four pediatric patients (64.9%) had a total of 32 symptoms and 56 adult patients (56%) had 69 symptoms. The main symptoms were respiratory related in pediatric patients (87.5%), while gastroenteric symptoms were predominant (73.2%) in adult patients. In contrast, lung abscess was a rare complication being reported in only 3 patients.
