Vallecular cyst in an infant: does your specimen show D2-40 immunoreactivity?

Vallecular cysts are infrequent causes of supraglottic obstruction causing stridor and swallowing difficulty in infants. When detected early in life, the management consists of marsupialization or resection. Supraglottic lymphangiomas of the tongue base and vallecula present with similar symptoms and time of presentation. Endoscopic visualization is traditionally considered to be sufficient in identifying and differentiating these. When a vallecular cyst is visually diagnosed by the surgeon during endoscopy, surgical treatment is provided at the same time. Obtaining a specimen is rarely considered for histopathologic diagnostic verification. However, the natural presentation of a cystic lymphangioma may be indistinguishable from a solitary vallecular cyst by endoscopy alone. This case presentation argues in favor of histopathologic diagnosis in vallecular cysts because the 2 may represent a continuum of disease. A vallecular mass with a single large mucus-filled cyst and adjoining edematous soft tissue extension into the tongue base and piriform sinus diagnosed as lymphangioma through D2-40 immunoreactivity is presented.