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Paediatric neck masses – a diagnostic dilemma

Abstract Three hundred and sixty children who had a head and neck mass excised during 1987 to 1992 at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow were studied. There were 210 males and 150 females with a mean age of 60.7 months (0.5 to 198 months). Pilomatrixomata/sebaceous cysts (34 per cent), thyroglossal cysts (13 per cent), branchial remnants (nine per cent) and dermoids (nine per cent) accounted for almost twothirds of the 264 non-lymphadenomatous benign lesions excised. Ninety-three lymphadenopathy masses consisted of 60 with reactive hyperplasia, 21 with Mycobacterium infection and 12 lymphomas. There were three solid malignant tumours, two were rhabdomyosarcomata and one disseminated round cell tumour. The correlation between clinical diagnosis and histopathology of benign non-lymph node masses and solid tumours was 90 per cent and 100 per cent respectively, in benign lymph nodes, 66 per cent, but was poor in differentiating lymph node content. The mean time from presentation of a swelling to its excision was almost a year and the mean in-patient stay for excision of a mass was almost five days. The role of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in arriving at a diagnosis and reducing patient morbidity is discussed.