• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.22-25
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• 1996

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.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.53-56
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• 2008

Objectives：The purpose of this study was to evaluate the variable sonographic features in addition to classic findings and to find the helpful characteristic findings for diagnosis of branchial cleft cysts. Subjects and Methods：We retrospectively analyzed the sonographic finding of 16 histopathologically proven branchial cleft cysts. Assessment involved the following variables : location related to carotid artery, size, cyst wall, border, margin, shape, internal echotexture, post echoic enhancement, orientation of longitudinal axis relative to the long axis of the neck, and tapering edge. Results：Most branchial cleft cysts were seen as well defined(15/16), oval shape(13/16), smooth inner (12/16) and outer margin(13/16), and post echoic enhancement(16/16). Their diameter varied from 1 to 6cm (mean 3.3cm). The branchial cleft cysts showed variable internal echopatterns；hyperechogenicity or pseudosolid appearance(1/16), heterogeneous echogenicity(4/16) in addition to classic form of anechoic(5/16) or hypoechoic internal echogenicity(6/16). Longitudinal axis of most branchial cleft cysts were arranged in the direction of the long axis of the neck(13/16) and some branchial cleft cysts had tapering edge(6/16). Conclusion：If both atypical sonographic findings and location are showed, longitudinal arrangement of long axis and tapering edge of branchial cleft cysts are helpful findings for differential diagnosis.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.31-34
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• 2017

First branchial cleft anomaly is a very rare disease and exhibits various clinical presentations. Therefore, the diagnosis of first branchial cleft anomaly may be difficult; the condition is often misdiagnosed and mismanaged. Accurate diagnosis is very important, because if not diagnosed correctly, patients with first branchial cleft anomaly would be treated with local incision and drainage repeatedly. We report two cases of first branchial cleft anomaly. The first patient visited for recurrent swell and discharge in the infra-auricular area with a history of previous incision and drainage. The other patient showed a cystic mass in the infra-auricular area and all of them were misdiagnosed initially by their treating specialists elsewhere. The objective of this study is to share our experiences of first branchial cleft anomaly, and emphasize its various clinical patterns and the significance of accurate diagnosis.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.63-66
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• 2003

Branchial cleft cysts typically are characterized as lateral swellings anterior to sternocleidomastoid muscle in upper third of the neck. However, cysts have been reported in unusual location such as the thymus, oral cavity, parotid gland, pancreas, and thyroid. Perithyroidal branchial cleft cysts are also rare and preoperative diagnosis is very difficult. Recently we have experienced a case of intrathyroidal branchial cleft cys and a case of perithyroidal branchial cleft cyst, which were diagnosed preoperatively as the parathyroid cyst. So, we report these two cases with review of the literatures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.94-97
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• 2018

Background and Objectives : Fourth branchial cleft cyst is a rare congenital anomaly which cause a recurrent cervical abscess. Complete excision of fourth branchial cleft cyst is difficult because of a complicated fistula tract. In addition to attempting chemocauterization with trichloroacetic acid (TCA) to avoid surgical complications, authors performed an electrocauterization to close internal opening of pyriform sinus. Materials and Methods : We reviewed ten patients of fourth branchial cleft cyst underwent TCA chemocauterization and electrocauterization simultaneously. Clinical characteristics including patient informations, medical records, treatment results were analyzed retrospectively. Results : Interval time until diagnosed with fourth branchial cleft cyst was variable from several days to decades. Five patients had a history of incision and drainage. Mean follow up period was 36.1 months and all patients were treated with no recurrence. Conclusion : TCA chemocauterization with electrocauterization can be a effective choice to reduce recurrence rate and ensure safety of patients of fourth branchial cleft cyst.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.53-56
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• 2005

The branchial anomaly is a lateral neck mass commonly seen by otolaryngologists. Depending on its anatomic location, branchial anomaly can be classified into first, second, third and fourth. The fourth branchial cleft anomaly is very rare entity and until now, only 35cases have been reported worldwide. It may present as neck cyst, recurrent neck abscess, thyroiditis. Combined with barium swallow esophagogram and computed tomography scan can aid in diagnosis of this rare disease entity. Complete excision of the entire epithelial tract combined with ipsilateral thyroid lobectomy remains the mainstay of treatment. Authors experienced a case of lateral neck mass which was anatomically presumed to be the fourth branchial cleft cyst. We report this case with the related literature.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.162-169
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• 2011

Branchial cleft anomalies are the second most common head and neck congenital lesions seen in children. Amongst the branchial cleft malformations, second cleft lesions account for 95 % of the branchial anomalies. This article analyzes all the cases of second branchial cleft anomalies operated on at Seoul National University Hospital from September 1995 to February 2011. We analyzed sex, age, symptom and sign, accompanied anomaly, diagnosis, treatment, pathologic report and outcome via retrospective review of medical records. In this series, we had 61 patients (27 female and 34 male). The mean age at the time of operation was 38 months. 31 lesions were on the right, 20 were on the left and 10 were bilateral. The most frequent chief complaints at presentation were non-tender mass and cervical opening without any discharge. According to anatomic type, 29 patients had branchial cleft sinuses, 14 had cysts, 14 had fistulas and 4 had skin tags. Complete excision was attempted if possible and antibiotics challenged when infection was suspected. Complete excision was achieved in 96.7 % of cases. Incision and drainage was done in 2 cases due to severe inflammation, and both recurred. Postoperative complications included wound infection in 2 cases. Microscopic examonation revealed squamous epithelium in 90.2 % and squamous metaplasia in one case in the branchial cleft cyst wall. In summary, second branchial anomaly is found more frequently on right side of neck. Fistulas are diagnosed earlier than cystic forms. Most cases could be diagnosed by physical examination. The definitive treatment is complete excision and sufficient antibiotics coverage for cases with inflammation. After drainage of infected lesions, follow up excision after 1 year might be beneficial for preventing recurrence.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.56-59
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• 2003

Branchial cleft fistula is one of the most common congenital neck masses. Most of the branchial cleft fistula patients complain of reucrrent neck infection or abscesses even with appropriate previous treatment. The traditional treatment of these patients was agreed to be a complete surgical removal of whole fistula tract with infection control. However this surgical treatment has risks of injuring important major vessels o. nerves adjacent to the track and difficulties in dealing with previous recurrent infections and scars of previous procedures such as drainage or incomplete surgical excision. Today, obliteration of internal opening with chemical or electrical cauterization has been introduced as a new way of treating branchial anomaly with a less invasive procedure. In this article, we reports 5 cases of branchial anomalies treated with TCA(trichloroacetic acid) chemical cauterization.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.180-186
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• 1990

This is a case report of first branchial cleft cyst in 56 year old male patient, which was tentatively diagnosed as acute right submandibular abscess resulted from the periapical lesion of the lower right second molar. The results are as follows, 1. The accompanying ipsilateral inflammatory swelling resulted from the periapical lesion of lower right second molar tooth makes the diagnosis difficult. 2. The onset of this case was very late in comparison to the mean discovering age of branchial cleft cysts. 3. The plain radiography using contrast media is helpful for the diagnosis of cystic lesions within soft tissues. 4. This case in a first branchial cleft cyst(Type I) which occurs less than 1% of all branchial cleft anomalies.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.60-63
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• 2012

Second branchial cleft cysts are usually present as a fluctuant neck mass along the anterior border of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. When they are found in this typical location, accurate diagnosis on initial presentation is not difficult. Parapharyngeal presence of the branchial cleft cyst is very rare. We report a case of second branchial cleft cyst presenting as a parapharyngeal cystic mass in 51-year-old male. Before coming to our clinic, the patient had been diagnosed as parapharyngeal abscess, resulting in several attempts at removal. However, symptoms and parapharyngeal abscess recurred. We performed complete surgical resection of the parapharyngeal cystic mass via transoral approach only with oropharyngeal incision. The cystic mass was located in the parapharyngeal space and did not have tract-like structure. Histopathologic examination confirmed that the excised cyst was branchial cleft cyst. Patient discharged without any surgical complication and there was no evidence of recurrence for 2 years follow-up.