Case ReportIdiopathic bilateral jugular phlebectasia in a 9-year-old boy
Introduction
Internal jugular vein phlebectasia is a rare condition in children, presenting as unilateral tender neck swelling, mostly affecting the right side, which manifests upon coughing or performing the Valsalva maneuvre. The etiology is not clear and is believed to be due to congenital factors or trauma. A differential diagnosis consists of laryngocele, branchial cysts, hemangiomas, or cystic hygromas.
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Case presentation
A nine-year-old boy came to our clinic for the appearance of a swelling at the base of the neck following coughing episodes (Fig. 1 and Video 1). The patient complained of dry cough only during the day for about one month. The cough was treated with beclomethasone inhalation and oral administration of prednisone, but no clinical improvement was observed. The child had never experienced fever or dyspnea. In view of the disappearance of the cough during sleeping hours, the suspicion of a possible
Discussion
The cause of the jugular vein phlebectasia remains unclear, and no treatment is indicated for this rare, benign, and self-limiting condition.
When the internal jugular vein is involved, it presents as a cervical swelling that can mimic the signs of either a pharyngocele or laryngocele, and because of its rarity, phlebectasia is frequently misdiagnosed [1,2]. The bilateral form is even more rare. Neck ultrasonography with color-Doppler is the gold standard for diagnosis and follow-up, thus
Declaration of competing interest
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No grant was received for this study.
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Conflict of Interest: none. All Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Ethical approval: all procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional and National Research Committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants (children's parents) included in the study.
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The manuscript
References (3)
- et al.
Dysphagia because of unilateral internal jugular vein phlbectasia in an infant
J. Pediatr. Surg.
(2016)
Cited by (1)
Internal jugular vein phlebectasia: A systematic review of therapeutic approaches in Pediatrics
2023, International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology