Case report: Lymphoma in a nasopharyngeal branchial cleft cyst.

OBJECTIVE: Nasopharyngeal branchial cleft cysts are rare, and only case reports have been published. We present a patient whose nasopharyngeal cyst contained a malignant lymphoma, and we review previous reports of this condition.

METHODS: Case report with a relevant literature review.

RESULTS: Sixteen case reports of nasopharyngeal branchial cleft cysts in 24 patients were included. The average age was 36 years; most cysts were on one side. Five patients underwent aspiration, 18 underwent surgery. The cyst wall was lined by stratified squamous epithelium in seven patients and by ciliated colomunar epithelium in 14. All previous cysts showed benign pathology. Our case is the first report of a malignant disease hidden in a nasopharyngeal branchial cleft cyst.

CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, malignant lymphoma in a nasopharyngeal branchial cleft cyst has not been reported previously. Nevertheless, the possibility of this finding should be kept in mind when evaluating patients with nasopharyngeal cystic lesions.