Abstract
Thyroglossal duct cysts arise from remnants of the embryonic thyroglossal duct between the foramen cecum of the tongue and the thyroid gland. Many cysts occur in the neck midline, but they are rarely found in the oral cavity. We examined the following three interesting cases of thyroglossal duct cyst.
Case 1. A male 1 year and 8 months old with a suspected dermoid cyst located in the left sublingual region. The cyst was lined with pseudostratified ciliated epithelium.
Case 2. A 7-day-old male with a suspected ranula in the right sublingual region. The cyst was lined with pseudostratified ciliated epithelium.
Case 3. A 4-year-old male with a thyroglossal duct cyst in the lingual root. The cyst was lined with stratified squamous epithelium.
Unlike thyroglossal duct cysts in the neck midline, clearly-defined fistula or track was attached to the cyst wall. The simple excision in each of these cases under general anesthesia and the postoperative course were uneventful.
Cases like these are infrequent in infants.
