Case of right-neck tumor that appears to be ectopic thymus.
A 7-year-old female infant presented with an asymptomatic soft tissue mass in the right neck. The tumor was considered to be a benign one because it had a smooth margin and no change in its size was observed. Ultrasonography showed a 4.5-cm-diameter solid tumor with a smooth, well-defined border. Inside the tumor, flow signals were observed on color Doppler and there were numerous echogenic spots. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination showed findings consistent with an ectopic thymus, i.e., T1- and T2-weighted images showed thymus-like signals. The course of the case is being continuously followed.
Department of Radiology, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, 329-0498, Japan. k-utano@nifty.com.
Kenichi
K
Utano
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.|Department of Laboratory Medicine, Saitama Medical Center, Jichi Medical University, Saitama, Japan.
Kiyoka
K
Omoto
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.
Harumi
H
Koibuchi
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.
Natsuki
N
Take
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.
Hiroaki
H
Matsunaga
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.
Nobuyuki
N
Taniguchi
Ectopic thymus; MRI; Ultrasonography