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Case Reports
. 2021 Sep 25;10(5):101-108.
doi: 10.5527/wjn.v10.i5.101.

Lemierre's syndrome caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae: A case report

So Yeon Hwang  1 , Seok Joon Shin  2 , Hye Eun Yoon  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Lemierre's syndrome caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae: A case report

So Yeon Hwang et al. World J Nephrol. .

Abstract

Background: Lemierre's syndrome is a disease that causes anaerobic sepsis, internal jugular vein thrombosis, and septic embolism in the lungs and other organs after acute oropharyngeal infection. It was named after André-Alfred Lemierre in 1936.

Case summary: Here, we have reported a case of Lemierre's syndrome in a 56-year-old female patient who presented with a sore throat. The patient had septic shock, had not voided, and had severe hyperglycemia at the time of her visit. Imaging tests revealed bilateral pneumonia, pleural effusion, pulmonary embolism, and renal vein thrombosis. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit and placed on mechanical ventilation due to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Continuous renal replacement therapy was administered to treat renal failure with anuria. Klebsiella pneumoniae was cultured from blood and sputum samples. After reviewing various results, the patient was ultimately diagnosed with Lemierre's syndrome. The patient was treated with appropriate antibiotics and thrombolytic agents. She was discharged from the hospital after recovery.

Conclusion: Lemierre's syndrome is associated with a high mortality rate. Therefore, clinicians should be familiar with the signs and symptoms of this disease as well as the preemptive examinations, procedures, and treatments.

Keywords: Case report; Diabetes Mellitus; Klebsiella pneumoniae; Lemierre's syndrome; Pulmonary embolism; Septic pneumonia.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have any financial or other conflicts of interest to declare with regard to this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chest radiography showed multiple patchy infiltrations at both lungs.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Computed tomography scan of the chest showed suspicious pulmonary thromembolism in segmental and subsegmental pulmonary arteries of right lower lobe (orange arrow).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Computed tomography scan of the neck showed the 13 mm × 10 mm size nodular lesion (orange arrow) in left parotid gland.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Chest radiography showed large cavitary consolidation with internal air-fluid level in right upper and middle lobes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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