title: Acute mediastinitis resulting from an unsuspected fish bone--case report.
abstract: Acute mediastinitis is a serious medical condition with a mortality rate from 30 to 40% or even higher. Early diagnosis with prompt and aggressive treatment is essential to prevent its rapid progression. Severe odynophagia and respiratory distress with positive neck or chest findings should raise suspicion of mediastinitis. We report a rare case of acute mediastinitis secondary to the unexpected migration of an impacted fish bone from the esophagus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Y G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Yeh
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones; D004947:Esophagus; D005399:Fishes; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008480:Mediastinitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed