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Septic thrombophlebitis caused by head and neck infection has become a rare disorder due to the development of antibiotics. We report herein two cases of septic thrombophlebitis of the head and neck. Case 1 was a 7-year-old girl, who presented with fever, otalgia, and headache. Acute otitis media was diagnosed in another hospital. A computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated mastoiditis with thrombophlebitis of the right lateral and sigmoid sinuses. Case 2 was a 39-year-old woman, who presented with left neck pain, fever chills and severe pharyngalacia. Peritonsillar abscess was diagnosed. A CT scan demonstrated a left internal jugular vein thrombus in addition to multiple pulmonary nodules with emboli. A diagnosis of Lemierre's syndrome was made based on these findings. Both cases were successfully treated by intravenous antibiotics. A lack of awareness of these conditions and a delayed diagnosis may lead to potentially fatal consequences. A clinical suspicion of septic thrombophlebitis seems to be essential to make an accurate diagnosis during the early stage of the disease and archive a successful outcome., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To investigate the pharmacokinetics of organic anions in the endolymph of the guinea pig, 100 mg/kg furosemide, an organic anion, was intravenously given to measure the concentration in the cochlear endolymph by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. In the endolymph, the concentration of the furosemide increased slowly for 1 hr to 1.6 micrograms/ml and gradually declined thereafter. Pretreatment with 200 mg/kg probenecid, an anion transport inhibitor, had no effect on the furosemide elimination in the endolymph except on the concentration at 2 hr. This was contrary to the drastic change observed in the perilymph of the scala tympani by the same pretreatment. Analogous to the effect in the endolymph, probenecid showed no change in the concentration of the serum, while a pronounced gradient of furosemide concentration existed between them. The present results suggest that the furosemide passively transfers from blood to the endolymph at a relatively low penetrability.