Oral foregut cyst in the ventral tongue: a case report

Abstract

An oral foregut cyst is a rare congenital choristoma lined by the respiratory and/or gastrointestinal epithelium. The exact etiology has not been fully identified, but it is thought to arise from misplaced primitive foregut. This lesion develops asymptomatically but sometimes causes difficulty in swallowing and pronunciation depending on its size. Thus, the first choice of treatment is surgical excision. Surgeons associated with head and neck pathology should include the oral foregut cyst in the differential diagnosis for ranula, dermoid cyst, thyroglossal duct cyst and lymphangioma in cases of pediatric head and neck lesions.