We report a case of prevertebral abscess in a 37-year-old male, presenting with a 2-day history of neck pain radiating to the right shoulder. We also review the current literature relating to the presentation and the emergency management of deep neck space infections.

This article outlines infections in the submandibular, lateral pharyngeal, retropharyngeal, danger, and prevertebral spaces, in conjunction with infections of the sinuses and mediastinum. By understanding the anatomy and pathophysiology, the reader will gain insight into the rationale for various therapeutic options.

A 51-year-old man underwent a C5-C7 anterior decompression and fusion. Six years later the patient complained of dysphagia caused by displacement of the cervical plate. One week after the scheduled removal of the implanted material, the patient developed a painful cervical swelling and fever. His cervical radiographs showed that a screw was missing compared to previous studies. Computerized tom...

In spite of being a common diagnosis in the patients of Asian origin, atypical presentations of tuberculosis may pose diagnostic challenges. We report a huge prevertebral abscess in a 30-year-old female, mimicking a leaking aortic aneurysm. The patient was managed successfully by emergency decompression and stabilization. The issues related to poor patient compliance to chemotherapy and managem...

The authors describe a rare case of inflammatory pseudotumor involving the clivus, where a soft tissue mass lesion, with extension into the prevertebral retropharyngeal space and the cavernous sinuses, was detected by CT and MRI. The mass resembled a malignant tumor or aggressive infectious lesion, and the final diagnosis of inflammatory pseudotumor was a diagnosis of exclusion, decided after h...

Spontaneous retropharyngeal hematoma is rare and difficult to diagnosis early. A 23-year-old male spontaneously developed acute onset of neck pain, limitation of neck motion, and mild dysphagia. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated blood products in prevertebral space from C2 to C4, suggesting a diagnosis of retropharyngeal hematoma. We report a rare case of spontaneous retropharyngeal hemat...