OBJECTIVES To review the management and outcomes of pediatric patients treated for descending mediastinitis at a single institution and contribute to an updated mortality rate. STUDY DESIGN Case series with chart review. SETTING Tertiary care pediatric hospital. SUBJECTS AND METHODS This study is a 19-patient case series of all patients treated for descending mediastinitis at a tertiary p...

BACKGROUND Longitudinal median sternotomy is the most common surgical approach for access to heart disease treatment. The deep wound infections in postoperative period of cardiovascular surgery are a serious complication requiring high costs during treatment. Different studies have indicated some risk factors for the development of mediastinitis and preoperative variables are currently under in...

Methods Data of 4526 patients admitted after MHS to our Cardiovascular ICU (January 2005,-June 2011) were prospectively collected. After exclusion of 655 patients, 3970 were analyzed to identify risk factors for mediastinitis. A model was generated by logistic regression analysis in a subgroup of 2618 randomly selected patients and validated in a second cohort of 1352. The discriminatory power ...

Introduction. Mediastinitis has been reported to complicate 5% of sternotomy surgery. We have adopted an open reduction and rigid internal fixation (ORIF) approach during the conventional rescue surgery in the treatment of mediastinitis. Methods. A retrospective review was performed to compare the outcomes of patients that had an ORIF to correct postoperative mediastinitis following median ster...

Fibrosing mediastinitis is underdiagnosed because of the nonspecific character of the presenting symptoms. The endobronchial findings obtained via flexible bronchoscopy are not defined in the literature. We describe 3 cases of fibrosing mediastinitis, most likely caused by histoplasmosis. All 3 patients presented with hemoptysis and were found to have tracheobronchial concentric narrowing, seve...

UNLABELLED Descending necrotizing mediastinitis is the most severe form of mediastinal infection. The aim of the study was to present the optimal diagnostic and treatment approach to this severe, life-threatening condition. PATIENTS AND METHODS Three patients (men, aged 75, 73, and 63) with descending necrotizing mediastinitis hospitalised between April 2007 and February 2009 have been includ...

We present the cases of two young heroin addicts seropositive for HIV who had life-threatening spontaneous acute anterior mediastinitis due to Staphylococcus aureus. This was the consequence of the spreading to the mediastinum of an infection of the chest wall. Complete cure was achieved with antibiotics and surgical drainage. Spontaneous mediastinitis should arouse suspicion of the possibility...

Mediastinitis is a dreadful complication after cardiac surgery, in severe forms mortality can reach 50%. The results of the surgery depend on early management and surgical technique. Treatment by vacuum-assisted closure -VAC therapy- has shown favorable results. We report case 69-year-old man with diabetes who underwent triple coronary bypass grafting under extracorporeal circulation. He presen...

Objective: Using the Ley prosthesis, a 0.5 mm thick titanium alloy plate for stabilising the sternum, is a new method in the treatment of mediastinitis after open-heart surgery. We report a retrospective analysis of our experience with this device. Methods: One hundred consecutive cases of post-operative mediastinitis in the period 1992±1997 were reviewed. The primary procedure at reoperation f...

Pulmonary histoplasmosis is generally a self-limited respiratory illness in endemic areas. Fibrosing mediastinitis is a severe chronic complication of pulmonary histoplasmosis in which pulmonary vessels and airways can be compressed with the potential for life-threatening implications. We present a 50-year-old male patient who presented with a total occlusion of the left pulmonary artery due to...