[Therapy of cystic lymphangioma in childhood. Report of 4 cases with manifestations in the area of the head-neck].

BACKGROUND

Lymphangiomas are localized in the head and neck area in about 75% of cases. About 75% of these cases are children less than one year old. Treating lymphangiomas with installation therapy to obliterate the cysts has been discussed, but surgery remains the treatment of choice.

PATIENTS: Two lymphangiomas in newborns required resection due to the size of the lesions. The surgery involved monitoring of the facial and hypoglossal nerves. A third child had a large lesion with infiltration into the supraglottic space and the tongue requiring a tracheotomy. In a four-and-one-half-year-old child, a parapharyngeal lymphangioma caused stridor and had to be incised before it could be completely excised through an intraoral and extraoral approach.

RESULTS

Lymphangiomas can be excised safely even in newborns.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of neurologic monitoring is recommended for surgery of lymphangiomas in children since these lesions conceal neurovascular structures making them difficult to identify.