LEMIERRE SYNDROME - A FORGOTTEN COMPLICATION OF ACUTE TONSILLITIS

Lemierre syndrome, also known as postanginal sepsis, is an illness cha racterized by the development of a fusobacterial septicaemia with mult iple metastatic foci following an attack of acute tonsillitis. It typi cally affects previously healthy adolescents and young adults who, fol lowing an attack of sore throat, become acutely ill with hyperpyrexia, rigors and multiple metastatic abscesses. The clinical picture tends to vary widely because of the possible involvement of a number of body systems and organs in the disease process. This serious complication of oropharyngeal sepsis had a mortality rate in excess of 90 per cent in the pre-antibiotic era. Although now rarely seen and often forgotte n, it remains a potentially life-threatening condition. We present fou r cases of post-tonsillitis fusobacterial septicaemia to illustrate th e variability of the clinical presentation and stormy clinical course frequently associated with this rare syndrome.