Papillomatization' and ‘malignant transformation’ of an abscess cavity in a 25-year old man with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis who may have had Lemierre syndrome

We report here an unusual case of a 25-year old male with juvenile onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis who developed an infestation of papillomata ‘papillomatization’ of an old abscess cavity that, when removed, was coincidently found to contain a 2 cm well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The abscess cavity had been caused by a previous Fusobaterium necrophorum infection that probably developed as a result of septic emboli from his internal jugular veins. This once common but now rare occurrence was first reported by Dr Lemierre in 1936 (Lemierre syndrome).