What is sclerosing mediastinitis?

Fibrosing mediastinitis (also known as sclerosing mediastinitis or mediastinal fibrosis) is characterized by an excessive fibrotic reaction in the mediastinum. Both entities are uncommon complications of prior histoplasmosis infection.

What is chronic mediastinitis?

Chronic mediastinitis results from an inflammatory reaction of the mediastinal lymph nodes, usually in response to prior Histoplasma capsulatum infection. Chronic mediastinitis can manifest as a mediastinal granuloma or, less commonly, as fibrosing mediastinitis.

How long can you live with fibrosing mediastinitis?

Not all patients with fibrosing mediastinitis have sure fatal outcomes [28,29]. Those who present asymptomatically tend to have better prognosis [11]. In the largest retrospective study to date, Piekert, et al. noticed a 100% survival rate 7 years after diagnosis, and greater than 95% survival rate after 14 years.

What causes fibrosing mediastinitis?

Fibrosing mediastinitis (FM), also known as granulomatous or sclerosing mediastinitis, is an uncommon but serious cause of chest symptoms. The etiology of FM is thought to be an abnormal host response to an infectious or inflammatory challenge, causing the production of large amounts of collagen and fibrosis.

How do you treat mediastinitis?

Treatment of Mediastinitis Antibiotics are given to treat infection. Sometimes surgery is needed to drain infected fluid from the chest, to repair the tear in the esophagus, or both. There is no treatment for fibrosing mediastinitis.

Is Sclerosing mediastinitis a progressive disease?

CONCLUSIONS–Sclerosing mediastinitis is a slowly progressive condition associated with previous tuberculosis, mediastinal malignancy, and autoimmune disease. The outlook is excellent for those cases without underlying malignancy. Full text Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version.

What is the most common cause of chronic mediastinitis?

The infection most commonly associated with chronic mediastinitis is histoplasmosis, which may be responsible for more than 70% of cases, but other infections including tuberculosis, coccidioidomycosis, aspergillosis, actinomycosis, and others have been reported rarely. Which individuals are of greater risk of developing mediastinitis?

How is chronic mediastinitis diagnosed?

The diagnosis of mediastinitis is best made through a correlation of clinical, laboratory and imaging findings. Chronic mediastinitis is diagnosed via biopsy of the affected tissue. Such biopsies are necessary to rule out other conditions such as infection or malignancy (particularly Hodgkin’s disease).

What are the possible complications of chronic mediastinitis?

Complications due to chronic mediastinitis develop due to obstruction of mediastinal structures such as the pulmonary arteries, veins, superior vena cava, esophagus, or bronchi.