Heterotopic Salivary Tissue and Branchial Cleft Sinus

Bilateral lesions which appeared clinically to be branchial cleft sinuses were removed from a patient's neck. One was indeed a branchial cleft sinus, with elements of salivary tissue, but the other proved to be pure salivary tissue with a duct characteristic of a salivary gland. The embryology and clinical characteristics of heterotopic salivary glands are discussed. The occurrence of a heterotopic gland together with a branchial cleft sinus supports the contention that the heterotopic glands arise through errors of development in the branchial apparatus.