Eponym: The Lemierre syndrome

Fig. 1 Dr. Andre Lemierre Lemierre syndrome, also known as postanginal sepsis, is a severe complication of an acute oropharyngeal infection that results in septic thrombophlebitis of the ipsilateral internal jugular vein with subsequent septicemia, often complicated by metastatic infections. The usu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of pediatrics 2010-04, Vol.169 (4), p.411-414
Main Authors: Vargiami, Efthimia G., Zafeiriou, D. I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use
Antibiotics
Bacterial Infections - complications
Biological and medical sciences
Fusobacterium Infections - complications
Fusobacterium necrophorum - isolation & purification
General aspects
Humans
Infections
Medical sciences
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Pediatrics
Pharyngitis - diagnosis
Pharyngitis - microbiology
Pharyngitis - therapy
Review
Suction
Syndrome
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Summary:Fig. 1 Dr. Andre Lemierre Lemierre syndrome, also known as postanginal sepsis, is a severe complication of an acute oropharyngeal infection that results in septic thrombophlebitis of the ipsilateral internal jugular vein with subsequent septicemia, often complicated by metastatic infections. The usual agent in Lemierre syndrome is Fusobacterium necrophorum , a commensal bacillus of the oral cavity. After the advent of antibiotic therapy, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, when penicillin was frequently used to treat pharyngeal infections, Lemierre syndrome was often referred to as the “forgotten disease”. Today with increasing antibiotic-resistant organisms and decreasing awareness of the syndrome, subsequent reemergence of this syndrome is becoming more common in clinical settings. The syndrome starts initially as an acute oropharyngeal infection followed by septicemia with intense fevers, rigors, swelling, and tenderness on the lateral aspect of the neck, parallel to the sternomastoid muscle (septic internal jugular vein thrombophlebitis), and multiple metastatic infections.
ISSN:0340-6199
1432-1076
DOI:10.1007/s00431-009-1135-5