Autopsy and Case Reports (Sep 2011)

Lemierre Syndrome – The forgotten disease

  • Carlos Eduardo Marcello,
  • Elizabeth In Myung Kim,
  • Luciana Andréa Avena Smeili,
  • Leonardo Bianqui,
  • Munir Bazzi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4322/acr.%y.26068
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 1, no. 3

Abstract

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Acute pharyngitis is among the most common causes of demand for emergency services. In general, they are benign, mostly of viral or bacterial etiology and evolve without complications with appropriate therapy. Rarely the infection extends deeply through the neck tissues generating serious suppurative complications. Herein is reported a case of a 20-year-old young woman who developed acute pharyngitis followed by left cervical bulging and cough with bloody sputum. Chest radiography showed bilateral pulmonary infiltrate which on thoracic computed tomography slices were represented by cavitary nodules measuring up to 33 mm universally distributed on both lungs, predominantly on peripheral location. Computed tomography of the neck with intravenous contrast showed extensive thrombosis of the left internal jugular vein, from the base of the skull to the distal third of the neck. Diagnosis of Lemierre Syndrome was made and the patient was treated with a favorable outcome.

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