A 74-year-old white man presented with unilateral radicular pain extending across the left side of his chest and back. A diagnosis of postherpetic neuralgia, a sequela of herpes zoster, was made. Herpes zoster represents a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus that lies dormant in patients with past chickenpox. Risk factors for the disease include advanced age, stress, immunodeficiency, an...

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...

Herpes zoster is an infectious disease caused by varicella-zoster virus that may occur sporadically at any age. We report on two patients with herpes zoster who received chemotherapy for breast cancer. Both patients were immunocompromised and received filgrastim therapy for the management of neutropenia. Zoster occurred during filgrastim therapy but the symptoms were alleviated rapidly in the c...

OBJECTIVES Herpes zoster has been widely described in the context of different systemic autoimmune diseases but not dermatomyositis/polymyositis. Therefore, we analyzed the prevalence, risk factors and herpes zoster outcomes in this population. METHOD A retrospective cohort study of herpes zoster infections in dermatomyositis/polymyositis patients was performed. The patients were followed at ...

Varicella zoster virus can infect the trigeminal ganglion, but viral infection is not frequently considered as a cause of trigeminal neuralgia. This is a case of a woman whose trigeminal neuralgia remitted after being treated with valacyclovir for a thoracic zoster rash and later resolved entirely following administration of the zoster vaccine. Successful treatment of trigeminal neuralgia with ...

BACKGROUND The association between heart failure (HF) and herpes zoster has rarely been studied. We investigated the hypothesis that HF may increase the risk of herpes zoster in Taiwan using a nationwide Taiwanese population-based claims database. METHOD Our study cohort consisted of patients who received a diagnosis of HF in 2001 ~ 2009 (N = 4785). For a comparison cohort, three age- and gen...

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...

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 ...

which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Concerns in assessing risk factors for herpes zoster infection in multiple myeloma patients TO THE EDITOR: Recent developments of new agents such as bortezomib and high-dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma have improve...

Antiviral treatment of herpes zoster is controversial because of uncertain benefits and relatively high costs. Most studies show that antiviral therapy lessens acute herpes zoster symptoms and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Current clinical recommendations support antiviral treatment of severely symptomatic herpes zoster in all adults, and mild herpes zoster in those 50 or 60 years of age or old...