Turkish Journal of
GERIATRICS

Ministry of Health Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Training and Research Hospital Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Department ANKARA Tularemia is a zoonotic disease and it may have fatal consequences, especially in geriatric patients. Named as rabbit fever, lemming fever and deer fly fever, it may present as ulceroglandular, oculoglandular, pneumonic, oropharyngeal, gastrointestinal, and typhoidal tularemia but hypopharyngeal tularemia has not been reported previously. We report a 72 year old man with hypopharyngeal tularemia who presented with an ulcero-vegetative lesion of pyriform sinus and cervical lymph nodes. Our initial diagnosis was hypopharyngeal carcinoma but the biopsy of the lesion was reported as granulomatous necrotizing infection. Serologic examination revealed hypopharyngeal tularemia and he was treated with ciprofloxacin and doxycycline. We believe that tularemia must be considered in the differential diagnosis of the hypopharyngeal lesions, especially in endemic regions and elderly patients. Keywords : Tularemia; Francisella Tularensis; Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms; Lymph Nodes