OBJECTIVE To assess the safety and efficacy of surgical excision of selected first branchial cleft cysts using electrophysiological rather than anatomical location of the facial nerve. DESIGN Retrospective review of consecutive surgical procedures by a single surgeon, using a consistent technique during a 9-year period. SETTING Tertiary pediatric medical center. PATIENTS Eleven children w...

Up to 20% of all congenital pediatric head and neck masses are branchial cleft cysts. Second branchial cleft cysts account for 95% of branchial anomalies, and fourth branchial cleft cysts are the rarest type. Their typical presentations include non-life-threatening symptoms, such as drainage, skin irritations, minor swelling, and tenderness. We describe a 5-week-old neonate with increasing stri...

INTRODUCTION First branchial cleft anomalies manifest with duplication of the external auditory canal. CASE REPORT This report features a rare case of microtia and congenital middle ear and canal cholesteatoma with first branchial fistula. External auditory canal stenosis was complicated by middle ear and external canal cholesteatoma, but branchial fistula, opening in the zygomatic root and a...

We report five cases of duplicated external ear canal with especial attention to its histology and surgical care of facial nerve for their complete resection. These five patients were selected from 50 cases of first bronchial cleft anomalies including atretic external ear canals, preauricular fistula, cyst and sinuses. The characteristic histopathology and clinical features such as external ope...