Tuberculous retropharyngeal abscess with posterior mediastinal extension and quadriplegia in a 13-year-old Nigerian girl

a and b: 13-year-old girl with tuberculous retropharyngeal abscess. (a) Lateral neck radiograph and (b) CT scanogram showing widened retropharyngeal space extending retrosternaly as far as demonstrated. Note the cervical kyphosis, the anterior displacement of the pharynx and the trachea and the partial destruction of the cervical vertebral bodies.

a and b: 13-year-old girl with tuberculous retropharyngeal abscess. Axial computed tomographic images (a) root of the neck and (b) thoracic, showing patchy lytic destruction of the vertebral bodies, laminae and posterior ribs. Note the retropharyngeal/prevertebral abscesses, the anteriorly displaced trachea with narrowed saggital diameter, some bony fragments within the spinal canal and the intra-spinal extension of the abscess.