A case of dental sepsis is presented which resulted in a deep neck infection and eventually caused a mediastinal abscess. The microbiology of such a mixed infection is briefly discussed with emphasis on the synergistic activity of the organisms. The anatomy of the fascial spaces is also described to draw attention to the possible routes of spread of this potentially life threatening condition.

We review an interesting case of craniocervical necrotizing fasciitis with thoracic extension in an immunocompetent 44-year-old man. The patient underwent aggressive medical and surgical management during a long hospitalization. Multiple surgical debridements, including transcervical mediastinal debridement, and eventually a thoracotomy for mediastinal abscess were required. The patient eventua...

A 71-year-old man presented with a productive cough and fever, and he was diagnosed as having an esophageal perforation and a mediastinal abscess. He had a history of traumatic hemothorax and pleural drainage for empyema in the right chest and was considered unable to tolerate thoracic surgery because of sepsis and progressive aspiration pneumonia. In order to aggressively drain the mediastinal...

Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) with transbronchial needle aspiration is now becoming widely accepted as a preferred staging technique. It has been perceived as a non-invasive and well tolerated procedure with minimal complications. We report the development and treatment of a severe complication that developed 2 weeks after the initial procedure in the form of a complex mediastinal abscess. EB...

In the preantibiotic era, pyogenic thoracic vertebral osteomyelitis was often complicated by mediastinal abscess, empyema, or necrotising pneumonia which arose by contiguous invasion late in the disease and progressed to bacteraemia and death.' Since the advent of antibiotics, however, the disease more often presents insidiously and may simulate mediastinal tumour, or gastrointestinal, genitour...

Background. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role and impact of EUS in the management of critically ill patients. Methods. We retrospectively identified all patients at our institution over a 68-month period in whom bedside inpatient EUS was performed. EUS was considered to have a significant impact if a new diagnosis was established and/or the findings altered subsequent clinical mana...

A five-year-old boy with a structurally normal heart and recent history of adenotomy and gastroenteritis presented with Staphylococcus aureus pancarditis including endocarditis of the tricuspid valve and abscess of the ventricular septum. Surgical treatment consisted of debridement of the valvar vegetations and of the septal abscess. A seven-day continuous mediastinal irrigation with iodine sol...

Spontaneous esophageal dissection is a rare condition that may happen in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis. Conservative management is an important therapeutic option to be considered. We describe an unusual case of a young man with eosinophilic esophagitis who presented complaining of acute retrosternal pain, fever and vomiting. After a thorough evaluation including CT-scan and esophagogr...

Zenker's diverticulum is the most frequent symptomatic diverticulum of the esophagus, but the prevalence is <0.1%. The optimal treatment is surgery. Here, we present a nasomediastinal drainage approach to treatment of a mediastinal abscess, developing in the late postoperative period and attributable to leakage from the staple line.