Treatment of Septic Thrombophlebitis of the Cavernous Sinus

One of the most fatal complications occurring in otolaryngology is that of septic thrombophlebitis of the cavernous sinus. Previous to the advent of chemotherapy Eagleton¹was able to report but 3 recoveries by surgical methods out of 25 cases. Browder and Myerson²had a recovery after introducing a sterile clot proximal to the infection. Grove³surveyed the literature and came to the conclusion that septic thrombophlebitis of the cavernous sinus was practically 100 per cent fatal. Since the introduction of chemotherapy isolated case reports of recovery are beginning to appear in the literature. Barnshaw,⁴Seydell⁵and Pace⁶each report a recovery following the use of sulfanilamide and Morrison and Schindler⁷one after the use of sulfapyridine. That there are two types of thrombosis of the cavernous sinus, the one septic and the other sterile, has been accepted clinically and proved at autopsy.⁸