An infected mediastinal cyst

L M Lawson1, A C Mason

  • 1University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. lindsaylawson@home.com

The authors describe a 43-year-old patient who had a mediastinal mass that became infected after a transbronchial needle aspirate biopsy. A paraspinal, extrapleural window with a saline-lidocaine mixture was created that allowed the placement of a percutaneous drainage catheter into the infected lesion. This procedure resulted in an excellent clinical outcome, and obviated the need for a thoracotomy and more invasive surgical management.

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