Operative Findings (Thyroglossal Duct Cyst)

The observer looks from the left side of the patient (at the bottom of the picture) to a midline plum-like cyst in this 3.8-year-old girl which is pulled with a forceps in a downward direction. The cranial border of the incision is held upward, and the sternohyoidal muscle becomes visible above the cyst (to the right). Thyroglossal duct cysts are remnants of the embryonic thyroglossal duct, and are mostly localized near the hyoid.