Pharyngeal Hairy Polyps: Five New Cases and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Pharyngeal hairy polyps are rare lesions that present as a pedunculated mass that may arise from the oropharyngeal or nasopharyngeal regions of the pharynx. The mass has the potential to partially or completely obstruct pathways towards the trachea and/or esophagus resulting in respiratory distress and/or feeding difficulties respectively.  They have a predilection for female infants of 6:1 with the vast majority of the cases occurring in the infantile period. We report 5 cases of the hairy polyp in female infants, one of which showed unusual presentation since it was diagnosed at ten months of age.

Keywords :

• hairy polyp
• choristoma
• teratoma