Congenital midline cervical cleft (literature survey and description of own clinical observations)

Abstract

Midline cervical cleft - (synonym: webbed neck, pterygium colli medianum, neck ugliness), belongs to rare congenital defects which, unfortunately, have not been widely covered in the specialized medical literature at the modern stage of the development of medicine. It is confirmed by the fact that until 2014 according to the literature search there were a little over 100 detailed descriptions of the respective pathology.

Purpose - to summarize the experience accumulated by experts in order to understand deeper all the aspects of Congenital midline cervical cleft, to introduce the present position of this rare congenital malformation to colleagues, to learn the structural parts of this pathology and the tactic for its treatment.

The article represents the last data from scientific literature about Congenital midline cervical cleft and the analytic results of the two medical cases with this congenital malformation in children. Studying these cases, we used general clinical tests and histological research for the removal tissues.

Conclusions. The current lack of information on the midline cervical cleft as well as the results of histological examinations in different clinical cases confirm the necessity of further study of this rare congenital defect. In this case, a deeper analysis of embryological, genetic and environmental factors influencing the process of formation of this pathology can be of help. In our opinion, performing the surgery becomes appropriate before two-year age in order to prevent the relapse of this pathology and severe neck contractures in the future.

The study was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki declaration. The informed consent of the patient was obtained for conducting the studies.

No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.