Abstract
A 39-year-old woman was admitted to the Dept. of Otolaryngology of Keio Univ. Hosp. with complaints of slight dysphagia of two years' duration.
Physical examinations revealed no remarkable findings. Chest X-ray studies showed an abnormal shadow in the right anterior mediastinum, and deviation of the trachea and esophagus to the left.
The brachiocephalic artery was also deviated to the right on the aortogram. A curved skin incision in the neck and anterior chest wall with median sternotomy was employed to remove the cyst locating mostly in the anterior mediastinum and partly in the neck.
Meticulous care was taken not to damage the recurrent laryngeal nerve.
The postoperative course was uneventful, but paralysis of the right recurrent laryngeal nerve was noticed two months postoperatively, which might be due to cicatrical contraction in the mediastinal areolar tissues. Pathological diagnosis was simple cyst but failed to demonstrate its origin.
