• Christian Adrien Righini, Alexandre Karkas, Romain Tourniaire, Jean-Michel N'Gouan, Sébastien Schmerber, Emile Reyt, and Ihab Atallah.
• Department of Otolaryngology, Grenoble University Hospital, Boulevard de la Chantourne, BP 217, 38043, Grenoble Cedex 09, France.
• Head Neck. 2014 Jul 1;36(7):1044-51.

BackgroundLemierre syndrome is a rare but serious illness that associates throat infection and thrombosis of the internal jugular vein (IJV) or one of its tributaries with subsequent distant septic emboli. The purpose of our study was to review the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and treatment of this disease.MethodsPatients with confirmed Lemierre syndrome were included in our retrospective monocentric study. All patients had bacteriologic analyses as well as radiologic imaging.ResultsThere were 11 patients in our study (from 1998-2012). Fusobacterium necrophorum was responsible for the infection in 45% of cases. Surgical drainage of pharyngeal, cervical, or mediastinal abscesses was carried out in 8 cases. All patients received broad-spectrum antibiotics. Six patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). One patient (9%) died.ConclusionTreatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics is the primary choice of treatment of Lemierre syndrome. Surgery is indicated in case of abscess formation.Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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