A case of mediastinal cystic hygroma whose only symptom was hoarseness

Hoarseness caused by mediastinal cystic hygroma has not been reported before. The authors report a case of mediastinal cystic hygroma in which the patient's only symptom was hoarseness. A 6-year-old girl had hoarseness. Physical examination findings were normal except for indirect laryngoscopy, which showed unilateral vocal cord paralysis. The chest radiograph showed an opacification 3 cm wide in the left side of the superior mediastinum. Through a median sternotomy, a large multicystic mass was resected. During resection, left laryngeal recurrent nerve was seen to be intact, and its integrity was preserved. Six months later the left vocal cord was moving to a limited extent. A chest radiograph should be considered in a case of hoarseness caused by a peripheral nerve lesion to detect a mediastinal mass without any cervical component.