A 5-Year Period Clinical Study of 16 Cases with Disseminated Herpes Zoster (2008~2012)

Kim, Min Sung; Choi, Hoon; Na, Chan Ho; Shin, Bong Seok

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Although there were many clinical studies of herpes zoster, researches on the clinical manifestations of disseminated herpes zoster are few in Korean dermatologic literatures.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to describe their clinical characteristics of disseminated herpes zoster, and compare them to that of previously reported literatures.
METHODS
We enrolled 16 patients diagnosed as disseminated herpes zoster at our institution from 2008 to 2012 in this study. We assessed with age, sex, underlying diseases, primary dermatome, interval to dissemination, prodromal symptoms, range of lesions, and complications of disseminated herpes zoster on the basis of medical records.
RESULTS
The mean age of subjects was 66.25 and the ratio of males to females was 2.2 : 1. 68.75% of all subjects had various underlying diseases, and hypertension was the most common disease. The most frequent primary dermatome was thoracic, and the average interval of dissemination was 2.19 days. Among 14 subjects with prodromal symptoms, 13 patients had pain, and 7 patients had rare symptoms including general weakness, myalgia, and fever, etc. Skin involvement was moderate to severe in 87.5%, and postherpetic neuralgia was the most common complication.
CONCLUSION
The patients of disseminated herpes zoster were more common in men, and had a broader range of lesions and higher incidence of underlying disease. In addition, they had rare general symptoms, and more complications as meningitis and neurogenic bladder. However, statistical comparisons are difficult due to small sample size, and therefore, additional studies targeting patients from multiple institutions will be required.