1987 Volume 33 Issue 12 Pages 2544-2550
The thyroid gland which appears in the floor of the pharyngeal gut between the tuberculum impar and the copula in the developmental stage goes downward to take a normal position in the neck. During this process, certain kinds of disorders occasionally bring congenital diseases which later make tumors in the lingual or cervical regions.
Four cases of median cervical tumor derived from the thyroid gland were treated in our clinic. All the patients, 5-year, 8-year, and 4-year old boys and d 58-year old woman, visited our hospital because of painless swelling at the median cervical region. The tumors, the diameters of which were in the range of 15-28 mm, smooth surfaces and relatively clear margins, caused no symptomatic difficulties in breathing, speaking or swallowing. All tumors were excised under clinical diagnoses of thyroglossal cyst. Histopathological observations revealed that the first three cases were thyroglossal cysts, but the fourth case was ectopic thyroid. No complications have been seen after the operations in every case.
