Lemierre's Syndrome: A Case of a Large Inflammatory Neck Mass with Internal Jugular Vein Thrombosis and Literature Review of Its Surgical Intervention

Abstract Background: Lemierre's syndrome is a fatal and rare disease that is typically characterized by oropharyngeal infection and internal jugular vein thrombosis. Timely application of appropriate antibiotics is the standard treatment. However, when conservative medical treatment fails to have effect, surgical intervention may be the only effective option for controlling the source of infection. Case presentation: The authors report a case of Lemierre's syndrome with a large inflammatory neck mass involving left internal jugular vein thrombosis that was cured by surgical treatment. In addition, a literature review was carried out through PubMed using the terms “Lemierre’s syndrome/disease and review, meta-analysis or retrospective study” and “Lemierre’s syndrome/disease and internal jugular vein”. This search yielded 6 articles that recorded the surgical rate in detail. Conclusion: The purpose of this review was to summarize the conditions under which surgical treatment are conducted. Additionally, this is the first report of such a large inflammatory neck mass that was completely cured by surgical resection and internal jugular vein ligation. The authors further offer several conclusions regarding surgical intervention in Lemierre’s syndrome.