Retropharyngeal Abscess Initially Diagnosed by the Videofluoroscopic Swallowing Study
Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine
; : 565-568, 2012.
Article
in En
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-126705
Responsible library:
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ABSTRACT
In this article, we report a case where a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) revealed the cause of a recently developed idiopathic dysphagia in a 66-year-old patient and enabled emergent treatment. The patient reported a 10-day history of fever, cough, sputum production, and progressive jaundice. He was then admitted to the hospital with suspicion of aspiration pneumonia. Despite treatment with antibiotics, fever and leukocytosis were persistent. As he also reported dysphagia, we performed the VFSS, which showed subglottic aspiration on all types of food and revealed a retropharyngeal mass causing mechanical compression. A contrast-enhanced computerized tomography (CT) of his neck was performed following the VFSS, which helped diagnose the mass as an extensive retropharyngeal abscess with mediastinitis. Following this diagnosis, emergent surgical incision and drainage was performed on the patient. Although the VFSS is primarily designed to evaluate swallowing function rather than to diagnose a disease, it can be used to reveal the primary medical cause of dysphagia while it studies the mechanical and structural abnormalities in the oropharyngeal and esophageal regions. This study also proposes that retropharyngeal abscess should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cases showing progressive dysphagia with fever. As confirmed through this work, the VFSS can function as a useful tool for detecting crucial diseases accompanying deglutition disorder.
Key words
Full text:
1
Index:
WPRIM
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Aspiration
/
Sputum
/
Fluoroscopy
/
Deglutition Disorders
/
Drainage
/
Retropharyngeal Abscess
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Cough
/
Deglutition
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Diagnosis, Differential
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Fever
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine
Year:
2012
Type:
Article