A rare adult case of poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis with a retropharyngeal abscess

• Published in: CEN case reports 2017-05, Vol.6 (1), p.118-123
• Main Authors: Takashima, Tsuyoshi, Hirata, Sae, Nonaka, Mai, Matsumoto, Keiichiro, Awanami, Yuki, Yamasaki, Masatora, Fukuda, Makoto, Miyazono, Motoaki, Ikeda, Yuji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Case Report; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nephrology; Urology
• ISSN: 2192-4449; 2192-4449
• DOI: 10.1007/s13730-017-0256-3

Retropharyngeal abscess is an infection involving the retropharyngeal space which is posterior to the pharynx and oesophagus, and it results as a complication of a primary infection elsewhere in the head and neck including the nasopharynx, paranasal sinuses, or middle ear, which drain lymph to the retropharyngeal lymph nodes. Their lymph nodes are prominent in children and atrophy with age. Therefore, retropharyngeal abscess is most frequently encountered in children, with 75% of cases occurring before the age of 5 years, and often in the first year of life. We experienced a rare adult case of poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis with a retropharyngeal abscess, and conservative therapy ameliorated them. According to past reports, only one child with a retropharyngeal abscess and poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis has been presented at a conference to date; this is the first adult case of poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis with a retropharyngeal abscess. Retropharyngeal abscess can be fatal including airway compression, so it is important to remember retropharyngeal abscess in a case of poststreptococcal acute glomerulonephritis with severe symptoms of neck.