Two cases of ectopic cervical thymus: Case reports and a review of the literature

Abstract

Ectopic cervical thymic tissue has rarely been reported in the medical literature. However, it should be included in the differential diagnosis of neck masses, and especially for children. This lesion generally occurs in the descent line of the thymus from the angle of the mandible to the superior mediastinum. The preoperative diagnosis of ectopic cervical thymus is seldom considered and this is often misdiagnosed as a possible tumor or as a lymph node. We report here on two cases of ectopic cervical thymus for which the patients underwent complete excision of the masses.