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MedPulse - International Medical Journal, ISSN 2348-2516 E-ISSN: 2348-1897

Volume 1, Issue 6, June 2014 pp 299-303

Research Article

The cervical extension of human fetal thymus

Bashir Khan¹, Siraz Ausavi²

¹Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, Shri Bhausaheb Hire Government Medical College, Dhule, Maharashtra, INDIA.

²Associate professor, Department of Anatomy, MNR Medical College, Sangareddy, Telangana, INDIA.

Abstract
Introduction: Thymus is a primary central lymphoid organ, responsible for provision of the T- lymphocytes to the entire body. It is a soft bilobed organ consisting of a pair of laterally compressed, more or less pyramidal lobes, lying close together side by side, joined in the midline by the connective tissue which merges with the capsule of each lobe. The greater part of the organ lies in the superior and the anterior inferior mediastinum, the lower border reaching the level of the 4^th costal cartilage. Superior extension into the neck is common, sometimes reaching the inferior pole of the thyroid gland or even higher. In the present study 53 human fetuses (24 male and 29 female) of different age groups ranging from 9^th to 40^th weeks of gestational age were dissected at department of anatomy, Government medical college, Aurangabad. All the specimens were located in the superior and anterior inferior mediastinum. However in one fetus of 20 weeks upper pole was extended high up into the neck but it did not reach to thyroid gland. In young children a large thymus may press on the trachea causing attacks of respiratory stridor. Cervical thymic anomalies must be considered as a differential diagnosis for children presenting with neck masses.