A 46-year-old man presented with shortness of breath and recurrent, left-sided pleural effusions. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest showed a large, left-sided pleural effusion with a mass in the posterior mediastinum. A pleural tap showed lymphocytic exudate. The biopsy of the mass was inconclusive. A left posterolateral thoracotomy was performed, which showed a large posterior mediastinal mass adherent to the left lung. The mass was completely excised and the histopathology proved it to be giant predominantly cystic schwannoma. The pleural effusion resolved after tumor resection.

We report a 31 year old woman presented with three months history of large untreated parapharyngeal abscess and bleeding from the mouth. On evaluation chest CT scan identified the abscess extending down to the superior mediastinum and multiple small lung abscesses. Echocardiography showed tricuspid valve insufficiency. Patient was brought to the operating room (OR) and intra-operatively it was found that she had multiple large mycotic pseudoaneurysms of the internal jugular vein and right brachiocephalic veins. All these pseudoaneurysms were repaired with pericardial patches under cardiopulmonary bypass. Patient did well in the short postoperative follow up and was then referred to plastic surgery and ENT for further surgical interventions.