The forgotten disease — Lemierre’s syndrome

Lemierre’s syndrome refers to septic thrombosis of deep veins of the neck,is a rare and often life threatening complication following upper respiratory tract infections. we present here a case of lemierre’s syndrome in a previously healthy 30 years old female who had a febrile illness for two weeks with associated dysphagia,hoarse voice and right sided neck swelling. she was investigated for retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscess,granulomatosis with polyangiitis,tuberculosis and thyroiditis but finally concluded as lemierre’s syndrome based on the findings of thrombosis of the deep neck veins following respiratory tract infection,septic pulmonary emboli and clinical recovery with antibiotics and supportive care. lemierres syndrome can be fatal if diagnosis and treatment is delayed. strong clinical suspicion leads to early diagnosis and may prevent life threatening organ dysfunction. © 2016,pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.