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Review
. 2014 May 15:9:38.
doi: 10.1186/1749-7922-9-38. eCollection 2014.

Lemierre's disease: a case with bilateral iliopsoas abscesses and a literature review

Nicholas Te Bird  1 , Derek Cocker  2 , Paul Cullis  3 , Richard Schofield  4 , Ben Challoner  1 , Alastair Hayes  5 , Martin Brett  4
Affiliations
Review

Lemierre's disease: a case with bilateral iliopsoas abscesses and a literature review

Nicholas Te Bird et al. World J Emerg Surg. .

Abstract

Lemierre's disease is characterized by sepsis, often with an oropharyngeal source, secondary septic emboli and internal jugular vein thrombosis (Lancet 1:701-3, 1936. Clin Microbiol Rev 20(4):622-59, 2007). Septic emboli affecting many bodily sites have been reported, including the lungs, joints, bones, and brain. The case report describes an unusual case of Lemierre's disease in a 64 year old gentleman causing profound sepsis, acute kidney injury, bilateral iliopsoas abscesses and a right hand abscess. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of Lemierre's disease in the context of bilateral psoas abscesses, and highlights the ambiguity surrounding the definition of Lemierre's disease. The clinical literature review highlights the difficulty in definitively diagnosing the condition and offers some suggestions for recognising and refining the diagnostic criterion of Lemierre's.

Keywords: Bilateral; Fusobacterium; Fusobacterium Necrophorum; Iliopsoas abscess; Lemierre.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Transverse view on CT of the bilateral iliopsoas abscesses.
Figure 2
Figure 2
CT demonstrated Sagittal View of Abdomen and Pelvis demonstrating gas locules in Right Iliopsoas Region.
Figure 3
Figure 3
>50% occlusive right internal jugular vein thrombus on ultrasonography.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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