A case of congenital cervical chondrocutaneous branchial remnant

Abstract

  We report a case of congenital chondrocutaneous branchial remnant. A 13-month-old infant had a lesion in the left neck since birth that gradually increased in size. We performed complete surgical excision, and there has been no recurrence during follow-up. The branchial cartilage is associated with the development of structures such as ossicles, hyoid, thyroid cartilage, and cricoid cartilage, but may on rare occasion remain in an external cervical subcutaneous site. This congenital lesion was first described in 1858. Various nomenclatures have been applied to this lesion but the term ‘cervical chondrocutaneous branchial remnants’ have recently been the most commonly used. It seems that it is necessary to standardize a Japanese name for this lesion. The clinical characteristics of cervical chondrocutaneous branchial remnants are: 1) male predominance, 2) presence at birth, 3) location in the middle or lower third of the neck anterior to the sternocleidomastoid muscle, and 4) similarity of the overlying skin to the surrounding neck skin and painlessness of the lesion, with neither inflammation nor discharge. Also, because this lesion is often associated with other malformations, attention is necessary regarding potential complications, although no other malformations were apparent in our case.