Malignant degeneration of a branchial cyst: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Malignant degeneration of a branchial cyst is rare (Thompson, 1997). It varies from 4% to 22% (Unal et al., 2005). CASE REPORT: A74-year-old man presented to our department with a left painless upper neck mass which was excised and histopathology revealed squamous cell carcinoma in a cystic lesion. The appropriate clinical tests and imaging were performed to determine the possible presence of a primary tumor. No primary carcinoma was found. This finding suggests that this was a malignant degeneration of a branchial cyst. The patient was treated with adjuvant radiotherapy and followed up over a 2-year-period and no recurrence was found. DISCUSSION: The development of an epidermoid carcinoma in situ in the amygdaloid cyst wall is a very rare entity. The challenge is to be able to distinguish between cystic metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma of the aerodigestive tract and a primary epidermoid carcinoma developed in the wall of an amygdaloid cyst. Martin and Khafif proposed some criteria to confirm the diagnosis of branchiogenic carcinoma.

Vertebral metastases from intracranial meningioma.

Meningioma rarely gives rise to metastases outside the brain and meninges. We report here a case of a patient who was treated for anaplastic brain meningioma with surgery and fractionated radiation therapy without any recurrence until 5 years after the operation, when she developed vertebral metastases.