A CASE OF MEDIASTINAL CYSTIC HYGROMA WHOSE ONLY SYMPTOM WAS HOARSENESS

Hoarseness caused by mediastinal cystic hygroma has not been reported before. The authors report a case of mediastinal cystic hygroma in whi ch the patient's only symptom was hoarseness, A 6-year-old girl had ho arseness. Physical examination findings were normal except for indirec t laryngoscopy, which showed unilateral vocal cord paralysis. The ches t radiograph showed an opacification 3 cm wide in the left side of the superior mediastinum, Through a median stern otomy, a large multicyst ic mass was resected. During resection, left laryngeal recurrent nerve was seen to be intact, and its integrity was preserved. Six months la ter the left vocal cord was moving to a limited extent. A chest radiog raph should be considered in a case of hoarseness caused by a peripher al nerve lesion to detect a mediastinal mass without any cervical comp onent. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company.