Lemierre syndrome variant: Necrobacillosis associated with inferior vena cava thrombosis and pulmonary abscesses after trauma-induced leg abscess

Fusobacterium necrophorum, a rarely encountered but potentially lethal bacterial pathogen, is the cause of Lemierre syndrome, an oropharyngeal infection complicated by jugular vein thrombophlebitis and metastatic septic embolization. We describe an unusual variant of this disease in a man who developed F necrophorum sepsis (associated with extensive inferior vena cava and common femoral vein thrombosis) and multiple abscesses in the lungs after a trauma-associated abscess of the left lower extremity. We highlight the predilection of F necrophorum to cause a potentially fatal septic illness irrespective of its primary focus and emphasize the importance of this bacterium as a cause of considerable morbidity.