PURPOSE To examine whether herpes zoster antigen (also called varicella-zoster virus antigen) was detectable in temporal artery biopsies taken from individuals with giant cell arteritis (GCA). DESIGN Retrospective comparative case series. METHODS Sections of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded temporal arteries were examined first by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining to establish the diagnosis ...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia increasing incidence is related to ageing. These conditions can be very debilitating and have an important impact in patients' quality of life. In an ageing population like the Portuguese, is expected that the burden of herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia rises, nevertheless, a specific surveillance system for zoster do...

BACKGROUND Herpes zoster occurs more commonly in patients taking immunosuppressive medications, although the risk associated with different medications is poorly understood. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 20,357 patients who were followed in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system and treated for rheumatoid arthritis from October 1998 through June 2005. Cox proport...

Sir, Herpes zoster is due to reactivation of varicella-zoster virus lying dormant in the dorsal root ganglion. It is characterized by pain or burning sensation in the involved dermatome with a grouped vesicular rash. In herpes zoster, acute inflammatory changes occur in the posterior nerve root and ganglia. Among the complications of herpes zoster, involvement of motor neurons is rare and may l...

BACKGROUND The association between liver cirrhosis (LC) and herpes zoster has rarely been studied. We investigated the hypothesis that LC, known as an immunodeficiency disease, may increase the risk of herpes zoster using a national health insurance database in Taiwan. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study cohort included cirrhotic patients between 1998 and 2005 (n = 4667), and a ratio of 1:5 rando...

herpes zoster is a rare cause of non-discogenic sciatica. a combination of case rarity and name similarity was nearly leading to an inopportune surgery in a 21 years old woman. the clinical presentation was completely similar to a cauda equina syndrome associated with urinary incontinence and bilateral leg involvement. concurrently, lumbosacral imaging of another patient with exactly similar na...

In herpes zoster infection, neurological complications may be overlooked because pain is a more prominent symptom and because peripheral polyneuropathy associated with weakness is rare. A 57-year-old male visited our hospital, complaining of pain and skin eruptions on the right flank. He was diagnosed as having herpes zoster and the symptoms were alleviated by administration of acyclovir for a ...

BACKGROUND The authors sought to monitor the impact of widespread varicella vaccination on the epidemiology of varicella and herpes zoster. While varicella incidence would be expected to decrease, mathematical models predict an initial increase in herpes zoster incidence if re-exposure to varicella protects against reactivation of the varicella zoster virus. METHODS In 1998-2003, as varicella...

Varicella and herpes zoster during pregnancy has been associated with birth defects, neonatal varicella, herpes zoster in newborns and infants. The aim of the present study was to determine the consequences for the neonates, whose mothers were closely exposed to varicella zoster virus (VZV) during pregnancy. Fifty six pregnant women with uncertain histories of prior VZV infection, after a close...