Anterior Jugular Vein Hemangioma: A Diagnostic Conundrum and Report of a Rare Case.

Abstract

Hemangioma is a common tumor accounting for 8 to 10 % of benign neoplasm. However, hemangioma arising from blood vessels is rare and even rarer if the vessel involved is anterior jugular vein (AJV). AJV hemangioma can be confused with jugular phlebectasia, laryngocele, thyroglossal cyst, simple cyst, or other vascular malformation of same origin. They should be considered in differential of midline/paramedian neck swelling. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice whenever possible, and even allows for histopathological evaluation and a confirmatory diagnosis. Being an extremely rare entity, there is paucity in literature about it and more publications are required to extend understanding and eliminate existing doubts about the pathology. We present an extremely rare case of AJV hemangioma that presented as a painless midline swelling and was initially confused as simple neck cyst on radiological assessment. We believe that this is the second only case of AJV hemangioma reported in English literature.