[Cysts and congenital fistulas of the face and the neck. About 78 cases].
The cysts and congenital fistulas of the face and neck induce frequent malformations in Oto-Rhino-Laryngology. A retrospective study on these malformations has been carried out from January 1986 to December 2001 in the Oto-Rhino-Laryngology unit of the Brazzaville Teaching Hospital. This study considered the epidemio-clinical aspects, the modes of therapeutic treatment and the evolution of these congenital pathologies. The cysts and congenital fistulas represented 2% of the consultations in the service. Patients were aged of 10 months to 50 years (average age: 21 +/- 5 years) among them 49 men (63%) and 29 women (37%). The pathology appeared in childhood in 41% of the cases and during adult age in 59% of the cases. The main circumstances of discovery were: cystic swelling (72%), infectious complication (18%) and productive fistula (10%). The clinical forms have been dominated by the cysts of the thyreoglossal tractus (72%), followed by the pre-auricular fistulas (10%), the amygdaloid (9%), dermoid (6%) and nasopalatine (3%) cysts. The treatment was in any case surgical. A good embryo-pathogenic knowleldge should contribute to a complete surgical exeresis, a necessary condition to avoid recurrence.