Surgical management of congenital supraglottic lateral saccular cyst

A case is described of a neonate with a rare, congenital, supraglottic, lateral, saccular cyst presenting with stridor and asphyxia. Repeated needle aspirations of the cyst failed to provide sustained clinical improvement. CT scans proved useful for precise intralaryngeal location of the cyst and planning of the surgical excision. At two months of age the cyst was successfully excised by a paramedian thyrotomy via an external cervical approach, avoiding tracheostomy.