What every physician needs to know: Chronic mediastinitis results from an inflammatory reaction of the mediastinal lymph nodes, usually in response to prior Histoplasma capsulatum infection. Chronic mediastinitis can manifest as a mediastinal granuloma or, less commonly, as fibrosing mediastinitis. Fibrosing mediastinitis is a mass-like fibrotic reaction that can compress mediastinal structures like the tracheobronchial…
What every physician needs to know: Acute mediastinitis is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening infection that can affect any of the mediastinal compartments (anterior, middle, or posterior) from the thoracic inlet down to the diaphragm. Widespread use of broad-spectrum antibiotics makes this site of infection even less common, and spontaneous development of mediastinal infection is…
What every physician needs to know: Pneumomediastinum is defined as air in the mediastinal space, and may be associated with pathologic extra-alveolar gas in other sites, including the thoracic cavity, pericardium, subcutaneous soft tissue, peritoneum, and retroperitoneum. Pneumomediastinum usually results from traumatic injury that disrupts mucosal barriers such as those in the esophagus or tracheobronchial…
