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Abnormal Locations of Thymic Tissue as an Uncommon Cause of Neck Masses in Children: A Practical Approach

Background: The thymus gland is a lymphoid organ normally located in the anterior mediastinum. Location abnormalities of the thymus, such as ectopic thymus or the superior herniation of a mediastinal thymus, could be responsible for the occurrence of cervical masses in pediatric patients, raising co...

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Autores principales: Andreozzi, Laura, Sacchi, Chiara, Biagi, Carlotta, Dondi, Arianna, Baldazzi, Michelangelo, Carfagnini, Filomena, Greco, Laura, Vivacqua, Donatella, Lanari, Marcello
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10059049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36983839
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life13030685
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author Andreozzi, Laura
Sacchi, Chiara
Biagi, Carlotta
Dondi, Arianna
Baldazzi, Michelangelo
Carfagnini, Filomena
Greco, Laura
Vivacqua, Donatella
Lanari, Marcello
author_facet Andreozzi, Laura
Sacchi, Chiara
Biagi, Carlotta
Dondi, Arianna
Baldazzi, Michelangelo
Carfagnini, Filomena
Greco, Laura
Vivacqua, Donatella
Lanari, Marcello
author_sort Andreozzi, Laura
collection PubMed
description Background: The thymus gland is a lymphoid organ normally located in the anterior mediastinum. Location abnormalities of the thymus, such as ectopic thymus or the superior herniation of a mediastinal thymus, could be responsible for the occurrence of cervical masses in pediatric patients, raising concerns among clinicians. The knowledge of these conditions is essential for a thorough differential diagnosis and for preventing unnecessary invasive procedures. Methods: Descriptive retrospective series of three patients with a cervical mass, that was later diagnosed as ectopic thymic tissue. Results: The thymus has a unique and distinctive ultrasound appearance that is the keystone to detecting thymic parenchyma in locations other than anterior mediastinum. In selected patients, an accurate ultrasound could be conclusive for the diagnosis, with no need for further and potentially risky procedures. Conclusions: This case series supports the use of ultrasound in both diagnosis and follow-up of thymus location abnormalities, advocating a minimal invasive and conservative approach.
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spelling pubmed-100590492023-03-30 Abnormal Locations of Thymic Tissue as an Uncommon Cause of Neck Masses in Children: A Practical Approach Andreozzi, Laura Sacchi, Chiara Biagi, Carlotta Dondi, Arianna Baldazzi, Michelangelo Carfagnini, Filomena Greco, Laura Vivacqua, Donatella Lanari, Marcello Life (Basel) Case Report Background: The thymus gland is a lymphoid organ normally located in the anterior mediastinum. Location abnormalities of the thymus, such as ectopic thymus or the superior herniation of a mediastinal thymus, could be responsible for the occurrence of cervical masses in pediatric patients, raising concerns among clinicians. The knowledge of these conditions is essential for a thorough differential diagnosis and for preventing unnecessary invasive procedures. Methods: Descriptive retrospective series of three patients with a cervical mass, that was later diagnosed as ectopic thymic tissue. Results: The thymus has a unique and distinctive ultrasound appearance that is the keystone to detecting thymic parenchyma in locations other than anterior mediastinum. In selected patients, an accurate ultrasound could be conclusive for the diagnosis, with no need for further and potentially risky procedures. Conclusions: This case series supports the use of ultrasound in both diagnosis and follow-up of thymus location abnormalities, advocating a minimal invasive and conservative approach. MDPI 2023-03-02 /pmc/articles/PMC10059049/ /pubmed/36983839 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life13030685 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Case Report
Andreozzi, Laura
Sacchi, Chiara
Biagi, Carlotta
Dondi, Arianna
Baldazzi, Michelangelo
Carfagnini, Filomena
Greco, Laura
Vivacqua, Donatella
Lanari, Marcello
Abnormal Locations of Thymic Tissue as an Uncommon Cause of Neck Masses in Children: A Practical Approach
title Abnormal Locations of Thymic Tissue as an Uncommon Cause of Neck Masses in Children: A Practical Approach
title_full Abnormal Locations of Thymic Tissue as an Uncommon Cause of Neck Masses in Children: A Practical Approach
title_fullStr Abnormal Locations of Thymic Tissue as an Uncommon Cause of Neck Masses in Children: A Practical Approach
title_full_unstemmed Abnormal Locations of Thymic Tissue as an Uncommon Cause of Neck Masses in Children: A Practical Approach
title_short Abnormal Locations of Thymic Tissue as an Uncommon Cause of Neck Masses in Children: A Practical Approach
title_sort abnormal locations of thymic tissue as an uncommon cause of neck masses in children: a practical approach
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10059049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36983839
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/life13030685
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