Lemierre’s Syndrome with Severe Thrombocytopenia without Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation: A Case Report and Literature Review

Hira Chaudhary¹, Srinath Ramaswamy¹, Yusra Qaiser¹, Unaiza Zaman¹, Regina Miller¹ and Samy I. McFarlane^1,

¹Department of Medicine, SUNY-Downstate Health Sciences University, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11203, USA

Cite this paper:
Hira Chaudhary, Srinath Ramaswamy, Yusra Qaiser, Unaiza Zaman, Regina Miller and Samy I. McFarlane. Lemierre’s Syndrome with Severe Thrombocytopenia without Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation: A Case Report and Literature Review. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2021; 9(3):158-162. doi: 10.12691/ajmcr-9-3-7

Abstract

Lemierre’s syndrome (LS) is an uncommon clinical entity characterized by a primary oropharyngeal infection with subsequent septic thrombophlebitis. Diagnosis is made with clinical or radiographic evidence of internal jugular vein (IJV) thrombosis, along with metastatic focus such as lungs or joints. Life threatening thrombocytopenia in Lemierre’s syndrome in the absence of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is rarely reported. We present a case of a 41-year-old woman with Lemierre’s syndrome caused by beta-hemolytic group C streptococci and fusobacterium species manifested as worsening pharyngitis, IJV thrombosis, and complicated by severe thrombocytopenia.

Keywords:
Lemierre’s syndrome thrombocytopenia hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)

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