André Lemierre
André-Alfred Lemierre (1875 – 1956) was a French bacteriologist.
Lemierre worked on investigations into septicaemia, typhus, bilious and urine tract infections and kidney diseases. He is best known for his 1936 publication on the condition now known as Lemierre syndrome
Lemierre syndrome is characterized by disseminated abscesses and thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein after infection of the oropharynx. The predominant pathogen is a gram-negative anaerobic bacillus, Fusobacterium necrophorum.
Biography
- Born 30 July 1875, Paris
- 1904 – MD
- 1912 – Médecin de Hôpitaux
- 1913 – Habilitated, Hôspital Bichat
- 1926 – Professor of bacteriology, Claude Bernard Hospital
- Died 11 August 1956
Medical Eponyms
Lemierre syndrome (1936)
Thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular (IJ) vein and bacteraemia caused by primarily anaerobic organisms, following a recent oropharyngeal infection; mostly affects children, adolescents and young adults; most commonly presents as a chest infection; delayed diagnosis is common
History of Lemierre syndrome
1922 – Hugo Schottmüller (1867–1936) was a founder of the concept of sepsis. He described metastasis of infection from an oral source to distant organs (officially in 1922, but heralded in 1918) [1922; 48(6): 181-182]
1936 – André Lemierre published a case series of 20 patients. He described the disease as peritonsillar abscess causing pulmonary infarcts and septic arthritis secondary to bacillus funduliformis (now known as Fusobacterium necrophorum). He termed the condition anaerobic postanginal sepsis. Lemierre suggested suppurative thrombophlebitis of an internal jugular vein from an oropharyngeal infection causing distance septic emboli should constitute a syndrome. [Lancet. 1936]
The syndrome is so characteristic that it permits of diagnosis before bacteriological examination, including blood culture, has provided conclusive proof.
Lemierre 1936
Major Publications
- Lemierre A. Sur un cas de septico-pyohémie à bacillus funduliformis. Maladies infectieuses. Paris, 1935.
- Lemierre A. On certain septicemias due to anaerobic organisms. Lancet. 1936; 227(5874): 701-703 [Lemierre syndrome]
Controversies
Original 1918 article cited by many as the original description…does not exist; there is simply an entry of the announcement of a paper in the journal [Schottmüller H. Ueber die Pathogenität anaërober Bazillen. Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift. 1918; 44(2): 1440]
References
- Schottmüller H. Ueber die Pathogenität anaërober Bazillen. Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift. 1918; 44(2): 1440
- Schottmüller H. Ueber den angeblichen Zusammenhang zwischen Infektionen der Zähne und Allgemeinerkrankungen. Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift. 1922; 48(6): 181-182
- Ho Y, Coman W. Lemierre Syndrome—Who First Described It? The Internet Journal of Otorhinolaryngology 2009; 12(2): 1-4
- Vargiami EG, Zafeiriou DI. Eponym: the Lemierre syndrome. Eur J Pediatr. 2010; 169(4): 411-4.
- Eilbert W, Singla N. Lemierre’s syndrome. Int J Emerg Med. 2013; 6(1): 40
- ENT Equivocation 002 – Just a Sore Throat
- Bibliography. André-Alfred Lemierre (1875 – 1956). WorldCat Identities
