Rare Cystic Hygroma of the Axilla and Breast in Adults, Case Report, Long-Term Follow-Up and Literature Review: An Experience from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Cystic hygroma (CH) in adults is a rare condition. Most CH cases are diagnosed at birth or during the first two years of life. Head and neck are the most common sites. There is scanty information about the natural history and follow-up of adult patients with axillary and breast CH. Hence, we present this case to shed some light on the natural history, complications, and a new suggested modality of treatment to deal with the complications. We report a case of a 39-year-old female who presented after ten years of excision of the right axillary CH with massive breast edema and recurrence of cysts in the ipsilateral breast and axilla. The insertion treated the edema of a breast-peritoneal shunt. The procedure was performed by inserting a normal V-P shunt catheter without a reservoir through a small incision in the inframammary fold toward the breast and another tiny incision at 10 of the clock in the right breast for fixation in the breast parenchyma. A catheter was inserted through a small incision on the right lumbar spine without intraperitoneal fixation after the catheter was inserted subcutaneously. This case report shows that adult CH can reoccur. To our knowledge, this is the second case of CH concomitantly involving the breast and axilla. The shunt of the edematous fluid to the peritoneal cavity can give hope for intractable breast edema treatment.