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Case Reports
. 2021 Sep;25(3):411-415.
doi: 10.1007/s10006-020-00921-z. Epub 2020 Nov 5.

A case of septic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint with necrotic peri-articular infection and Lemierre's syndrome: an unusual presentation

Mats Døving  1 , Erik Egeland Christensen  2   3 , Lars Peder Huse  4 , Øystein Vengen  5
Affiliations
Case Reports

A case of septic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint with necrotic peri-articular infection and Lemierre's syndrome: an unusual presentation

Mats Døving et al. Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Septic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is rare. It usually causes isolated, locoregional symptoms related to the infected intra-articular space but may also cause fever and malaise.

Case report: We present a case of a 72-year-old male with septic arthritis of the TMJ complicated by extensive peri-articular necrosis, septic shock, cerebral abscess, Lemierre's syndrome, and a pathological fracture of the mandibular condyle.

Conclusion: Case reports describing such a severe course of the disease are few. Moreover, this is the first report of septic arthritis of the TMJ to cause Lemierre's syndrome.

Keywords: Brain abscess; Lemierre syndrome; Sepsis; Septic arthritis; Temporomandibular joint.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Coronal view of CT angiography of the face showing peri-articular effusion (arrow) of the right TMJ
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Intra-operative picture of the right TMJ which shows pus from the incised capsule
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Intra-operative picture of the right temporal fossa where the temporal muscle has been removed due to necrosis
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Cerebral MRI showing a contrast enhanced abscess in the right temporal lobe, measuring 1.2 × 1.3 cm
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Three-dimensional reconstruction of CT which shows a pathological fracture of the right mandibular condyle
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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