[A case report of odontogenic infection leading to fatal mediastinitis]

Mediastinitis can be life-threatening complication of oral and maxillofacial surgery. Mediastinitis from odontogenic deep cervical infection is extremely rare in the era of antibiotic drugs. Such complication is subjected to the ravages of a gas-forming anaerobic infection. We have encountered such a case, with a rapid spread of the inflammatory process into the mediastinum resulting in a number of local and systemic complications. The submandibular fascial spaces served as a pathway for the propagation of an overwhelming infection along cervical planes in a posterior direction to the lateral pharyngeal spaces and then to the retropharyngeal spaces, the mediastinum. Despite massive antibiotic therapy, general supportive care and surgical drainage, the patient died.