Abstract

Lemierre’s syndrome is a rare but lifethreatening form of septic thrombophlebitis. Patients are mostly young, aged 14-25 years, whose head or neck infection (usually peritonsillary, parapharyngeal or retropharyngeal abscess) may be complicated by thrombosis of a nearby vein (mostly internal jugular vein). An infected thrombus, in turn, causes septic embolism mainly in
the lungs and joints. We describe a case of a young female patient whose clinical picture corresponded to Lemierre’s syndrome. The patient developed neck pain, fever and cough. The
complaints did not resolve within two weeks. X-ray of the chest revealed bilateral pneumonia. The patient was referred to the department of emergency medicine, where it was decided to hospitalize her As septic shock had occurred at that time, the patient was taken to the intensive care unit for treatment. Computer tomography showed left pharyngeal abscess and ultrasound showed left internal jugular vein thrombosis. The subsequent course of the disease was characteristic of Lemierre’s syndrome. The patient was hospitalized for a total of 78 days, after which positive dynamics continued.