Branchial Cleft Anomalies

새성기형

A very important and interesting problem occasionally seen in the neck of children and adults is a branchial cleft anomaly. It is a rare congenital neck disease and presents a painless palpable mass of neck in most cases. We have retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 28 patients operated upon for branchial cleft anomaly at Department of Surgery, Chonnam University Hospital between January, 1991 and December, 1995. Three of these lesions were considered to have originated from the first branchial cleft, and 25 from the second branchial cleft. Females are about twice more common than male patients. Pathological findings showed the cysts were lined squamous epithelium and subepithelial lymphoid follicles in most cases. Five out of 28 patients with branchial cleft anomalies had previous incision procedures. All patients after complete removal of branchial anomalies have no recurrences.