CUTANEOUS BRONCHOGENIC CYST - DELINEATION OF A POORLY RECOGNIZED LESION

Bronchogenic cyst is a benign congenital developmental abnormality of the embryonic foregut. The most common extrapulmonary location of thes e lesions is the mediastinum, Over 50 cases of cutaneous bronchogenic cyst were reported in the English literature. Nevertheless, it is poor ly recognized by clinicians and is sometimes confused with branchial c yst, In almost all cases the diagnosis is established by histopatholog ic examination. We report an unusual clinical presentation of bronchog enic cyst in a 4-year-old girl and review the literature. This lesion is four times more common in males than in females. The most common lo cation is the suprasternal notch, followed by the presternal area, nec k, and scapula. The characteristic histologic findings are a ciliated pseudostratified epithelial lining with the presence of smooth muscle cells, goblet cells and, less frequently, cartilage. Our review of the clinical and histologic features of all reported cases further deline ates this entity and may facilitate its clinical diagnosis, Bronchogen ic cyst should be included in the differential diagnosis of congenital cystic and nodular skin lesions on the upper chest, upper back, and n eck.