Mehrotra Pulkit, Thomas Steve, Kumar Prasanna S
Medicine, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, IND.
Haematology, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, IND.
Cureus. 2025 Jun 24;17(6):e86679. doi: 10.7759/cureus.86679. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Ludwig's angina (LA) is a rapidly progressive deep neck space infection that can become life-threatening due to airway compromise. Agranulocytosis, defined as a severe depletion of neutrophils, typically predisposes patients to overwhelming infections; however, its coexistence with LA is rare and poorly characterized. Here, we present two cases of patients with no classical predisposing factors who developed LA in the setting of agranulocytosis, each highlighting distinct clinical challenges in diagnosis and therapeutic decision-making. Both patients responded well to the timely initiation of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and antimicrobial therapy, with complete resolution and neutrophil recovery by day 5-6. These cases reinforce the importance of routine hematologic monitoring in patients prescribed antithyroid drugs such as carbimazole and underscore the need for early clinical vigilance for deep neck infections in immunocompromised individuals.
路德维希咽峡炎(LA)是一种迅速进展的深部颈部间隙感染,可因气道受压而危及生命。粒细胞缺乏症定义为中性粒细胞严重减少,通常使患者易发生严重感染;然而,它与LA并存的情况罕见且特征描述不足。在此,我们报告两例无典型易感因素的患者,他们在粒细胞缺乏症的情况下发生了LA,每例都突出了诊断和治疗决策中独特的临床挑战。两名患者对及时启动粒细胞集落刺激因子(G-CSF)和抗菌治疗反应良好,在第5-6天完全缓解且中性粒细胞恢复。这些病例强化了对服用卡比马唑等抗甲状腺药物的患者进行常规血液学监测的重要性,并强调了对免疫功能低下个体的深部颈部感染进行早期临床警惕的必要性。