Congenital midline cervical cleft: Case report and review

Abstract

Congenital midline cervical cleft (CMCC) is a rare anomaly that has been described with terms such as medial cleft, 1 Davis AD Medial cleft of the lower lip and mandible. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1950; 6: 62 Crossref Scopus (26) Google Scholar median fissure of the neck, congenital midline cervical cord, 2 Van Duyn J Congenital midline cervical cord with report of a case and a note on the etiology of congenital torticollis. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1963; 31: 576 Crossref PubMed Scopus (22) Google Scholar midline cervical webbing, 3 Wood GA Deister E Anterior midline neck webbing with microgenia and symphyseal exostosis. Oral Surg. 1983; 56: 128 Abstract Full Text PDF Scopus (13) Google Scholar and pterygium colli medianum. 4 Godbersen S Heckel V Wiedeman H-R Pterygium colli medianum and midline cervical cleft: Midline anomalies in the sense of a developmental field defect. Am J Med Genet. 1987; 27: 719 Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar Although varying presentation has generated controversy as to whether CMCC should be considered a distinct entity, most authors consider it within the spectrum of branchial arch developmental abnormalities. Karfik's 5 Karfik V Proposed classification of rare congenital cleft defects of the face. Rozhl Chir. 1966; 8: 518 Google Scholar classification places CMCC under medial axial B2 clefts of branchiogenic origin. In Tessier's classification, CMCC is a No. 30 facial cleft, the caudal extension of the No. 0 medial facial cleft. 6 Tessier P Anatomical classification of facial, craniofacial and laterofacial clefts. J Maxillofac Surg. 1976; 4: 69 Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (619) Google Scholar , 7 Keçeci Y Gençosmanoğlu R Görken C Çağdaş A Facial cleft no. 30. J Craniofac Surg. 1994; 5: 263 Crossref PubMed Scopus (7) Google Scholar Several pathogenic mechanisms have been proposed to explain midline cervical clefting, but the embryopathogenesis of the anomaly has not been clearly established.