A case of midline cervical cleft

ABSTRACT  Midline cervical cleft is a rare congenital developmental anomaly of the ventral neck. Less than 100 cases have been reported in published journals to date (Ayache et al., 1997). It is usually found as congenital scar-like skin defect or cord-like contractive abnormality of the skin at the ventral neck. Unlike "median cervical cyst" or "lateral cervical cyst", midline cervical cleft usually has no anatomical association with the hyoid bone. We will present a case of midline cervical cleft without fistula but with very small protuberant tissue. The subject was operated at the age of 5 months. We will discuss the clinical aspect and surgical management of this infrequent anomaly.