Huge Thornwaldts Cyst A Case Report》.pdfVIP

HUGE THORNWALDT’S CYST: A CASE REPORT Jia-Hau Lin,1 Chih-Feng Tai,2,3 Ka-Wo Lee,1,2 Kuen-Yao Ho,1,2 Wen-Rei Kuo,1,2 and Ling-Feng Wang1 1Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, 2Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, and 3Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Thornwaldt’s bursa, also known as nasopharyngeal bursa, is a recess in the midline of the nasophar- ynx that is produced by persistent notochord remnants. If its opening becomes obstructed, possi- bly due to infection or a complication from adenoidectomy, a Thornwaldt’s cyst might develop. Here, we present a 53-year-old man who complained of nasal obstruction that had progressed for 1 year. Nasopharyngoscopy showed a huge nasopharyngeal mass. Thornwaldt’s cyst was suspected. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a lesion measuring 3.6 ˜ 3.4 cm, intermediate on T1-weighted and high signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging, neither bony destruction nor connection to the brain. The patient underwent endoscopic surgery for this huge mass. After- wards, his symptoms improved significantly. We present the treatment and differential diagnosis of a nasopharyngeal cyst. Key Words: magnetic resonance imaging, nasopharyngeal cyst, Thornwaldt’s cyst (Kaohsiung J Med Sci 2006;22:524–8) Thornwaldt’s bursa, also known as nasopharyngeal showed a mass with a diameter of almost 4 cm loca- bursa, is a recess in the midline of the nasopharynx, ted in the midline of the nasopharynx (Figure 1). which