An Unusual Case of Painful Swelling in the Neck

Ab s t r Ac t Lemierre’s syndrome: More than a historic curiosa, a prepenicillin era illness characterized by disseminated abscess and thrombophlebitis of internal jugular vein after infection of the oropharynx. The predominant pathogen is a gram-negative anaerobic bacillus Fusobacterium necrophorum. A prompt clinical diagnosis is of utmost importance for a favorable prognosis in the management of this patient. Here we present a case of Lemierre’s syndrome in a middle-aged uncontrolled diabetic male where the unusual and atypical clinical manifestation posed a mounting challenge in the diagnosis of this case. And, the peculiarity in this case was that the causative organism was Klebsiella pneumoniae that is not known to cause Lemierre’s syndrome typically. To date, only a few other cases have been reported where the organism was K. pneumoniae.