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Case 42 - Necrotizing Fasciitis

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Let's look at this patient who had left sided neck pain, fever,

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and there were areas of breakdown in the skin.

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We start off superiorly looking at the brain.

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The brain tissue looks fine.

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The vessels of the circle of Willis look fine.

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The orbit got a little bit of enlargement

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of the optic nerve sheath complex.

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And then we see this area of air in the temporalis muscle

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of the masticator space. Let's follow that air downward.

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So we see new air here at the pterygoid muscle, as well

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as at the coronoid process of the left mandible.

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In the left side of the neck,

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we have air in the parapharyngeal space,

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anterior to the carotid sheath,

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and there is mass effect displacing the airway from

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left to right. Continuing in the left side of the neck,

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we also see involvement of the buccal space, as well as the area

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around the parotid tissue, which is coursing along

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the expected location of Stensen's duct.

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The left side of the neck continues to show areas of

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abnormality in the parapharyngeal space with all this

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air collection, again, airway displaced medially.

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And here we have air in the retropharyngeal space,

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a collection of purulent material coming into the

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peritonsillar region, and then into the floor of the mouth,

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submandibular space, submental space,

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and we're also seeing a trek even to the posterior triangle

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and the supraclavicular fossa, and then from there, into the

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visceral space of the head and neck

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structures and strap muscles.

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Here you have just beads of air along the clavicle in the

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supraclavicular and infraclavicular space, and

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then even towards the axilla.

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Well, clearly,

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as you hear me describe this, this is transpatial.

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It's going across the fascia of the masticator space,

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the parotid space, the parapharyngeal space,

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the retropharyngeal space, the visceral space,

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as well as the submandibular and submental space,

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and then into the supraclavicular

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fossa and even into the axilla.

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This is destroying the fascia that normally would separate an

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infectious process into one of the spaces and confine it.

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It's just eating right through the fascia.

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This is known as necrotizing fasciitis,

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a very virulent infection that is very hard to eradicate,

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requires intravenous antibiotic and often requires debridement

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of dead tissue that is occurring in the neck.

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At this point, with this... as diffuse as this is,

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this patient is unlikely to survive this infection.

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You also want to look and make sure that you don't see

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areas where there has been breakdown in the skin surface.

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Because that could be a secondary infection of staph.

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epididymis or staph. aureus, extending into the area

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where there already is an aggressive infection.

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So just a horrifying infection,

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necrotizing fasciitis.

Report

Faculty

David M Yousem, MD, MBA

Professor of Radiology, Vice Chairman and Associate Dean

Johns Hopkins University

Tags

Neuroradiology

Head and Neck

Emergency

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