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The neck, Thoracic Inlet and Outlet, the Axilla and Chest Wall, the Ribs, Sternum and Clavicles.
Published in Fred W Wright, Radiology of the Chest and Related Conditions, 2022
On lateral views the pre-vertebral space may be widened with an abscess, (sometimes containing gas) or by a tumour. A goitre may slip behind the trachea and a malignant goitre may not only compress and distort it but also cause thickening of its wall and sometimes show tumour nodules within the tracheal air column.
Deep Neck Space Infection
Published in Firza Alexander Gronthoud, Practical Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 2020
Cellulitis versus abscess, monolateral or bilateral, involved spaces: lateral pharyngeal space, retropharyngeal space, prevertebral space, parotid space, masticatory space, visceral vascular space and anterior visceral space.
Surgical Anatomy of the Neck
Published in John C Watkinson, Raymond W Clarke, Terry M Jones, Vinidh Paleri, Nicholas White, Tim Woolford, Head & Neck Surgery Plastic Surgery, 2018
Laura Warner, Christopher Jennings, John C. Watkinson
The prevertebral space is the potential area posterior to the prevertebral fascia and anterior to the vertebral column and para-spinal musculature. Spread of infection to this area may occur as a result of traumatic perforation of the pharynx or oesophagus, or because of a breach of prevertebral fascia from retropharyngeal infection. Infection in the prevertebral space can cause spinal osteomyelitis and spinal cord compression. Prevertebral space invasion in head and neck malignancy is a feature which often signifies inoperable disease.
Emphysematous osteomyelitis of spine
Published in British Journal of Neurosurgery, 2023
We report a case of a 53-year-old woman with undiagnosed diabetes mellitus and emphysematous osteomyelitis due to hematogenous spread of Escherichia coli. Coronal (Figure 1(a)) CT scan shows extensive intraosseous gas within the L5 body and sacrum. Intraosseous gas shows a bubble-like appearance. Axial (Figure 1(b)) CT scan reveals that air densities extend into the prevertebral space and retroperitoneum. Epidural collection of air densities is seen from L4 to S1 on the sagittal CT scan (Figure 1(c)). Despite the antibiotic treatment, she still complained back pain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar spine was performed 14 days after hospital admission. Contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted sagittal image (Figure 1(d)) reveals an epidural abscess with hypointense foci of air from L4 to S1, resulting in central canal narrowing. Decompressive laminectomy and drainage of the epidural abscess were performed. A surgical specimen of sacral bone showed acute suppurative inflammation with necrosis. After surgical decompression, the patient’s subjective symptom was much improved.
Device profile of the sapphire XTM anterior cervical plate system: overview of its safety and efficacy
Published in Expert Review of Medical Devices, 2021
John G. DeVine, Uzondu F. Agochukwu, Keith L. Jackson
Another advantage of this plating system is that it allows for the surgical treatment of disc pathology adjacent to previously plated fusions. Traditionally, when addressing adjacent segment pathology, the previous plate would need to be removed in order to access and then address the adjacent segment pathology with another ACDF procedure. Removal of the plate allows for placement of distraction pins to access the disc space and ultimately allows room for the application of another cervical plate [15]. This requires an exposure of the anterior prevertebral space spanning the length of the existing cervical plate, which may encompass several cervical levels. This leads to increased operative time, increased blood loss, more soft tissue retraction, and higher rates of postoperative dysphagia. A possible solution to this problem is performing a disc arthroplasty on the adjacent segment pathology. However, the adjacent segment is subject to increased biomechanical forces leading to a higher failure rate of the disc arthroplasty requiring revision surgery [16].. Similarly, stand-alone cervical constructs are also an option that allow fusion of the adjacent segment pathology without exposure of the existing cervical plate, but again, at the expense of decreased fusion rates and increased failure rates compared to primary ACDFs [17]. The Sapphire XTM affords the surgeon the ability to surgically address adjacent segment pathology without having to expose and remove an existing plate while simultaneously providing the necessary construct stiffness to prevent failure and improve fusion rates (Figure 6).
Cervical spondylotic myelopathy: A two decade experience
Published in The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2019
Robert F. Heary, Anna MacDowall, Nitin Agarwal
Once the prevertebral space has been exposed, a radiographic marker is utilized to confirm the correct level. One method is with the use of a radiopaque bayoneted spinal needle inserted into the disc space. Studies have demonstrated that exposure of a non-operative intervertebral disc can lead to accelerated degeneration of that disc.23,24 As such, localization can also be performed with placement of a radiographic marker into the ventral vertebral body cortex. The longus colli muscles are dissected and elevated from the vertebral bodies on each side of the identified disc space with a maximum lateral extent of dissection of 3 mm to avoid causing a Horner’s syndrome if the sympathetic chain is disrupted. A self-retaining retractor system is then utilized.