Transcervical approach to oropharyngeal synovial sarcoma: a case report

Aim: Synovial sarcomas (SS) are malignant tumors rarely arising in the head and neck region. In most of these cases, the tumor arises in the cervical or hypopharyngeal region, and extremely rarely in the oropharynx. Case report: Herein, we report the case of a 22-year-old male oropharyngeal SS patient presented with breathing difficulty and dysphagia. The management plan included an emergency tracheostomy, followed shortly by transcervical resection of the oropharyngeal sarcoma tumor, the pectoralis major myocutaneous flap was used for pharyngeal reconstruction, followed by adjuvant radiotherapy resulting in more than 5 years disease-free survival. Conclusion: SS arising in the oropharynx are extremely rare. Transcervical resection coupled with adjuvant radiotherapy warrants enhanced locoregional control in advanced oropharyngeal cases. Plain language summary: Synovial sarcomas rarely arise in the head and neck region, specifically in the oropharynx. We report a case of an oropharyngeal synovial sarcoma patient that was presented with breathing difficulty and dysphagia. The patient underwent tracheostomy followed shortly by resection of the oropharyngeal sarcoma tumor, pectoralis major myocutaneous flap was used for pharyngeal reconstruction followed by adjuvant radiotherapy resulting in more than 5 years disease-free survival which confirms the effectiveness of such modalities in permitting locoregional control.