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Descending necrotizing mediastinitis with Lemierre’s syndrome

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Abstract

Descending necrotizing mediastinitis is a severe infection of the mediastinum. Lemierre’s syndrome manifests as thrombophlebitis in the cervical veins, which is caused by a neck infection. A 50-year-old woman had a fever with a 13-day history of neck pain. CT showed a deep neck abscess with vertebral vein thrombosis and mediastinal abscesses. Multiple small pulmonary nodules were found, suggesting septic pulmonary embolism. Emergency surgery for bilateral cervical and mediastinal drainage was performed, and antibiotics and anticoagulation agent was administered. Edoxaban was required to clear vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan

    Taisuke Kaiho, Takahiro Nakajima, Takekazu Iwata & Ichiro Yoshino

  2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan

    Shuji Yonekura & Sawako Hamasaki

Authors
  1. Taisuke Kaiho
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  2. Takahiro Nakajima
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  3. Shuji Yonekura
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  4. Sawako Hamasaki
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  5. Takekazu Iwata
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  6. Ichiro Yoshino
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takahiro Nakajima.

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The authors have no conflict of interest.

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Kaiho, T., Nakajima, T., Yonekura, S. et al. Descending necrotizing mediastinitis with Lemierre’s syndrome. Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 65, 661–663 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-016-0742-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11748-016-0742-0

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