Mediastinitis and pericarditis caused by dental infection

A five-year retrospective study of odontogenic maxillofacial infections in a large urban public hospital

“…They are more common in under-served patients lacking access to health care, who often obtain their health care through the Emergency Room of publicly funded hospitals. These infections generally respond to antimicrobial chemotherapy and/or surgical intervention 6,12 , but there are numerous published reports of odontogenic infections spreading to the cavernous sinus, deep musculofascial spaces and other vital structures 1,2,5,[7][8][9][10]13,[15][16][17][18] . They can lead to airway compromise, involvement of the mediastinum and septicemia.…”

Spread of infectious complications of odontogenic abscess detected by technetium-99m-HMPAO-labeled WBC scan of occult sepsis in the intensive care unit

“…CT scanning has been advocated in the management of deep head and neck infections (8) and mediastinitis (9,10), but its benefits must be weighed against the time necessary to schedule and obtain the scan (8). Gallium-67-citrate has been advocated for the detection of an infectious lesion or abscess formation, but the potential requirement for delayed images and difficulty in interpre tation (77) are serious drawbacks.…”

Focal Infection

“…Necrotizing mediastinitis may (Steiner et al, 1982;Rubin and Cozzi, 1987) or may not (Economopoulos et al, 1983) be fatal. Mediastinitis, thoracic empyema and pericarditis or other cardiac problems have been reported as sequels of dental abscesses (Zachariades et al, 1986;Musgrove and Malden, 1989;Bonapart et al, 1995).…”