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Lemierre Syndrome

Aka: Lemierre Syndrome, Fusobacterium Pharyngitis

Pathophysiology
1. Infection by Fusobacterium necrophorium
  1. Responsible for 10% of acute Pharyngitis cases in young adults and adolescents
2. Occurs with contiguous infection from Pharyngitis (typically) or dental infection to lateral pharyngeal space
3. Results in septic thrombophlebitis of internal Jugular Vein
Epidemiology
1. Adolescents and young adults make up majority of cases
Signs
1. Fever
2. Tonsillar exudates
3. Anterior cervical Lymphadenopathy
4. Cough absent
Complications
1. High morbidity and mortality
2. Metastatic infection
3. Septic pulmonary emboli
Management: Consider empiric treatment
1. Avoid Macrolides
2. Penicillins
3. Cephalosporins
References
1. Edson (2011) Internal Medicine, Mayo Conference, Kauai

Family Practice Notebook

Patients should address specific medical concerns with their physicians.

Although access to this page is not restricted, the information found here is intended for use by medical providers.

This page was written by Scott Moses, MD, last revised on 1/24/2011 and last published on 5/10/2012.

This is one of 5737 pages in the Family Practice Notebook