A unique congenital glossocervical fistula.

Lateral cervical fistulae which communicate with the oropharynx are considered to result from incomplete obliteration of the second branchial cleft and pouch. Classically these fistulae have a well-defined pathway through the neck. We present a case, and discuss the aetiology, of a fistula extending from the lateral neck via a previously undescribed course through the neck structures and opening into the posterior aspect of the tongue at the level of the vallate papillae.