A 58-year-old man with a history of Ludwig’s angina was admitted with a spinal cord abscess at the level of C2-T1 and associated osteomyelitic destruction of vertebral bodies, spinal cord compression, and secondary quadriparesis, followed by descending mediastinitis. A right posterolateral thoracotomy and a cervicotomy drained purulent exudates. A tracheostomy was performed, and the patient was discharged after 84 days.
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Gómez-Caro AndrésADíaz-Hellín GudeVMoradiellos DíezFJMartín de NicolásJL. Spinal cord compression and epidural abscess extension of pleural empyema. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg2004; 3: 317–318.
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FlierlMABeauchampKMBollesGEMooreEEStahelPF. Fatal outcome after insufficient spine fixation for pyogenic thoracic spondylodiscitis: an imperative for 360 degrees fusion of the infected spine. Patient Saf Surg2009; 3: 4–4.
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