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.