Indian Journal of Respiratory Care

IJRC Email      Register      Login

VOLUME 12 , ISSUE 4 ( October-December, 2023 ) > List of Articles

CASE REPORT

An Unusual Case of Retropharyngeal Tubercular Abscess Due to Cervical Pott's Spine with Mediastinal Tubercular Lymphadenopathy: A Case Report

Islahuzzama S Ansari, Sachinkumar S Dole

Keywords : Case report, Lymphadenopathy, Pott's spine, Recurrence, Retropharyngeal abscess, Tuberculosis

Citation Information : Ansari IS, Dole SS. An Unusual Case of Retropharyngeal Tubercular Abscess Due to Cervical Pott's Spine with Mediastinal Tubercular Lymphadenopathy: A Case Report. Indian J Respir Care 2023; 12 (4):358-361.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-11010-1075

License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Published Online: 18-01-2024

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2023; The Author(s).


Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) including extrapulmonary tuberculosis is one of the most common diseases in developing countries like India. Spinal tuberculosis (Pott's spine) usually involves thoracolumber spine and rarely affects cervical spine. In addition retropharyngeal abscesses of tubercular origin are also one of rare presentations of cervical spine tuberculosis. Case description: We present a rare case of a 27-year-old female with a history of tubercular retropharyngeal abscess (RPA) associated with spinal tuberculosis (TB) (Pott's spine) involving the cervical spine. The patient was successfully managed with drainage of the abscess and antitubercular treatment (ATT). She later on had a recurrence of extrapulmonary TB in the form of mediastinal lymph node mass (drug-sensitive TB), which is rare in adults and was treated successfully with ATT. Such recurrence of extrapulmonary TB (drug-sensitive) in previously successfully treated cases of retropharyngeal tubercular abscess is an uncommon presentation of TB. Conclusion: Retropharyngeal abscess is one of the rare presentations of cervical Pott's spine. Despite its rarity, it should be aggressively treated due to life threatening complications. In case of its recurrence; other extrapulmonary lesions like mediastinal lymphadenopathy should be considered in diagnostic workup.


PDF Share
  1. Peirse M, Houston A. Extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Med 2017;45(12):747–752. DOI: 10.1016/j.mpmed.2017.09.008
  2. Wurtz R, Quader Z, Simon D, et al. Cervical tuberculous vertebral osteomyelitis: case report and discussion of the literature. Clin Infect Dis 1993;16(6):806–808. DOI: 10.1093/clind/16.6.806
  3. Parhiscar A, Har-El G. Deep neck abscess: a retrospective review of 210 cases. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 2001;110(11):1051–1054. DOI: 10.1177/000348940111001111
  4. Goldenberg D, Golz A, Joachims HZ. Retropharyngeal abscess: a clinical review. J Laryngol Otol 1997;111(6):546–550. DOI: 10.1017/S0022215100137879
  5. World Health Organization. Global tuberculosis report; 2018.
  6. Mnatsakanian A, Minutello K, Black AC, et al. Anatomy, Head and Neck, Retropharyngeal Space. 2023. StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023.
  7. Leibert E, Haralambou G. Spinal tuberculosis. Tuberculosis. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2004, pp. 565–577.
  8. Garg A, Wadhera R, Gulati SP, et al. Giant retropharyngeal abscess secondary to tubercular spondylitis. Indian J Tuberc 2009;56(4): 225–228.
  9. Miller JF. Tuberculosis in childhood. Postgrad Doc 1984;11:590.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.