Double Thyroglossal Duct Cyst Derived from a Single Tract: A Case Series

Thyroglossal cyst is one of the common midline cystic lesions of neck attending paediatric surgery clinic. However double cyst is anatomically rare and sparsely described clinically in all searched English literature. We have retrospectively collected and described three cases of double cyst from our clinical practice. Two of three cases were females of age below ten years and one boy of thirteen years of age who presented with complaint of swelling in midline of anterior aspect of neck. There were neither pain/discharge from the swelling nor difficulty in deglutition in all cases. Parents had noticed swelling in infancy or early childhood which had attained to a size so as to cause cosmetic issues in girls. In the contrary, the teen male was having redness over the swelling one year back which subsided on symptomatic treatment but continued to increase in size. Ultrasonography was done in all cases to delineate normal thyroid tissue, and two of three cases had a significant second cystic lesion suprahyoid, proximity to hyoid bone. Planned for excision of lesion under general anaesthesia. In all cases, we found two cystic swelling at both ends of single duct tissue. After careful dissection and excision, closure of wound was done in a cosmetic manner and tissue on histopathology confirmed to be thyroglossal cyst at both ends. On follow-up, all cases were doing well without recurrence. Surgeons should be vigilant not to ignore any cystic swelling if found during Sistrunk operation and it should be carefully excised.