Abstract
Three cases of mediastinal abscess associated with cervical disorders are reported. Case 1 is a 67-year-old man who suffered from olivo-ponto-cerebellar atrophy and in whom tracheotomy was performed. Mediastinal emphysema and aspiration pneumonia occurred after tracheotomy, then pyothorax and mediastinal abscess followed. Case 2 is a 41-year-old man with a deep neck infection, following acute tonsillitis, that spread to the mediastinum. Case 3 is a 58-year-old woman who suffered cervical esophageal perforation during esophageal fiberscopy in whom cervical and mediastnal abscess occurred. We inserted a drainage tube from the lower neck to the upper mediastinum then, used antibiotics which were effective against anaerobic bacteria in all 3 cases.
The drainage route from the lower neck to the mediastinum was effective in upper mediatinal abscess in most cases, though mediastinotomy is needed in some cases. Antibiotics should be selected since anaerobic bacteria are involved in deep neck infections.
