Tubercular Retropharyngeal Abscess in Association with Aberrant Retropharyngeal Internal Carotid Arteries - A Rare Entity: Imaging Diagnosis and a Word of Caution
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Case Report
P: 50-53
March 2019

Tubercular Retropharyngeal Abscess in Association with Aberrant Retropharyngeal Internal Carotid Arteries - A Rare Entity: Imaging Diagnosis and a Word of Caution

Turk Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2019;57(1):50-53
1. Department of Radiology, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bhadur Hospital, Delhi, India
2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bhadur Hospital, Delhi, India
3. Department of Pathology, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bhadur Hospital, Delhi, India
No information available.
No information available
Received Date: 23.07.2018
Accepted Date: 31.10.2018
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ABSTRACT

Retropharyngeal (RP) abscess is rarely encountered in adults. Still rare is an abscess of tubercular etiology especially without involvement of the underlying cervical spine. We present a case of an immunocompetent woman with a tubercular RP abscess diagnosed on contrast-enhanced cervical computed tomography and confirmed on cytology. Another interesting feature was an aberrant RP course of the internal carotid arteries in this patient. This case report stresses the importance of imaging in establishing an unexpected diagnosis of an RP abscess, suggesting its likely cause, and also in demonstrating the aberration in regional vascular anatomy, and warns the clinician of life-threatening hemorrhagic complication in the event of any diagnostic or therapeutic intervention.