Hereditary Thyroglossal Duct Cyst: A Literature Review

Introduction: Thyroglossal duct cysts are the most common form of congenital cyst in the neck, with an incidence around 7%. The precise pathogenesis of thyroglossal duct cyst has not been determined, and despite their relative frequency, reports of familial inheritance are rare. The aim of this article is to gather information about the existing evidence of hereditary thyroglossal duct cysts.

Material and Methods: A literature review was performed with keywords: hereditary AND thyroglossal duct, between 1975 and 2018 in MEDLINE database.

Results: 34 cases were found worldwide, divided into ten families where the thyroglossal duct cyst is found in one to three generations.The majority of published family thyroglossal duct cyst series suggest an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance with an incomplete penetration.

Discussion: The reports of hereditary cases of thyroglossal duct cysts are increasing, in spite of this, its correlation with age of manifestation, gender, geographical distribution, and association with other thyroid anomalies is yet to be established.

Keywords: Thyroglossal duct cyst, hereditary, familial, genetic.