OBJECTIVE We aimed to summarize the pooled frequency of mediastinitis following open-heart surgery caused by Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Gram-negative bacteria. DESIGN This study was a systematic review and a meta-analysis of prospective and retrospective cohort studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS We searched the literature, and a tot...

BACKGROUND Candida mediastinitis is rare, but mortality has been reported as high as 50%. There are no clinical trials evaluating treatment of Candida mediastinitis and there are only a limited number of reports in the literature. CASE REPORT We present two cases of mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass grafting due to Candida albicans. Immunosuppression and long surgical procedures were...

Tracheoesophageal puncture is a simple procedure for speech rehabilitation of total laryngectomy patients. Despite its relative simplicity this is not an innocent technique without complications. The goal of this study was to determine the incidence of acute mediastinitis as an early postoperative complication related to this procedure and to present outcomes of non-surgical conservative manage...

INTRODUCTION The mediastinitis is a serious postoperative complication of cardiac surgery, with an incidence of 0.4 to 5% and mortality between 14 and 47%. Several models were proposed to assess risk of mediastinitis after cardiac surgery. However, most of these models do not evaluate the postoperative morbidity. OBJECTIVE This study aims to develop a score risk model to predict the risk of m...

OBJECTIVE Assessment of incidence and behavior of mediastinitis after cardiac transplantation. METHODS From 1985 to 1999, 214 cardiac transplantations were performed, 12 (5.6%) of the transplanted patients developed confirmed mediastinitis. Patient's ages ranged from 42 to 66 years (mean of 52.3 +/- 10.0 years) and 10 (83.3%) patients were males. Seven (58.3%) patients showed sternal stabilit...

BACKGROUND We conducted a study to determine factors associated with the occurrence of mediastinitis in patients hospitalized for cervical necrotizing fasciitis (CNF). METHODS We reviewed the medical records of 130 consecutive patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) who were hospitalized with a diagnosis of CNF. Two radiologists reviewed cervical and thoracic computed tomography (CT) scans t...

The azygos venous system represents an accessory venous pathway supplying an important collateral circulation between the superior and inferior vena cava. The aim of this article is to revise the wide spectrum of changes ranging from normal to pathological conditions involving the azygos system. Teaching points • The azygos vein is a collateral venous pathway, becoming a vital shunt if major pa...

serratia marcescens (s.m) is a species of gram–negative bacteria in the family enterobacteriaceae. a human pathogen, s. marcescens is involved in nosocomial infections, particularly in urinary tract and wound infections. this report describes a 63 years-old man that referred to hospital with dyspnea fc iv and he underwent cardiac valves replacement surgery with a diagnosis of severe mitral sten...

Sarcoidosis involves abnormal collections of inflammatory cells (granulomas) which may form as nodules in multiple organs. 90% of affected patients have respiratory tract abnormalities. We present a 61-year-old male with sarcoidosis who was admitted for respiratory distress. Fibrosing mediastinitis was seen in the chest computograph. Management was conservative and included steroids, antibiotic...

Esophageal perforation is a condition associated with high morbidity and mortality rates; it requires early diagnosis and treatment. The most common complication of esophageal rupture is mediastinitis. There are several case reports in the literature of mediastinitis secondary to esophageal perforation and development of aortic pseudoaneurysm as a complication. We report the case of a patient w...