Branchial cleft heterotopia of the lower neck.

A cutaneous ciliated structure from the lower neck of a 61-year-old man having seromucous, sebaceous and respiratory-type differentiation is reported. The finding of continuity between endodermal and ectodermal structures in the reported lesion suggests an origin from the branchial apparatus. Many lesions with similar appearance have been labeled bronchogenic though these, in fact, may have branchial origins. The term cutaneous bronchogenic cyst, implying an origin from the tracheobronchial tree, maybe misleading and should be reconsidered for those lesions with respiratory-type differentiation in the lower neck.