Blue episodes in a neonate

When we saw the baby in the emergency department she was cyanosed (SaO^sub 2^ 88% on room air), with a respiratory rate of 30-40/min, intercostal recession, and grunting. Congenital tumours of the oropharynx are rare.1 Laryngeal cysts are broadly classified as ductal (75%) or saccular (25%).2 Ductal cysts arise because of obstruction in the collecting ducts; vallecular cysts are a form of ductal cyst.3 The vallecula is the groove between the epiglottis and the base of the tongue; during swallowing food enters the vallecula and passes around the epiglottis either side into the pyriform aperture and then into the oesophagus.