METHODS
We report a case of ECT in a 10-year old child and performed a
systematic review of the English literature published between January
1997 and June 2019. We searched the following scientific databases:
PubMed, ScienceDirect, Clinical Trials, The Cochrane Library, Database
of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness, IngentaConnect, OvidMedline,
Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database. We used a combination of
search terms: “cervical ectopic thymus”; “cervical ectopic thymic
tissue”; “cervical thymic cyst”.
Selected studies included: case reports and retrospective/prospective
case-series limited to paediatric population (0-18 years of age). We
excluded publications documenting ectopic thymic tissue present within
the thyroid gland, incidental findings on pathology specimens during
neck procedures such as thyroidectomy and unclear/mixed diagnosis. A
full text copy of each article was obtained for detailed review.
References within the included articles were screened to identify
additional relevant articles. The full text of the potentially eligible
studies was obtained and assessed for eligibility by two reviewers (AC
and MP). The data were recorded in a database (Microsoft Excel 2016,
Microsoft Corporation). Data are reported as number of cases (%),
median and (range), mean ± SD. The Kruskal-Wallis U test was used to
identify differences between the groups. P values < 0.05 were
considered significant.