Cervical necrotizing fasciitis: a novel clinical presentation of Burkholderia cepacia infection.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a soft-tissue infection characterized by progressive destruction of fascia and adipose tissue which may not involve the skin. Cervical necrotizing fascitis (CNF) is an uncommon clinical entity. The development of CNF is frequently related to synergistic infections of aerobic and anaerobic organisms of the upper aerodigestive tract. We describe the first case of CNF due to multi-drug resistant Burkholderia cepacia and Peptostreptococcus infection in an immuno-competent patient without cystic fibrosis.