Epidemiology and Clinical Features of Disseminated Herpes Zoster

Kim, Hyojin; Kang, Jeong Nan; Seol, Jung Eun; Seo, Jong Keun; Sung, Ho Suk

Abstract

BACKGROUND
There have been several studies about herpes zoster in the Korean dermatological literatures. However, there are few studies reported on disseminated herpes zoster.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to determine the epidemiology and clinical features of the disseminated herpes zoster as compared with herpes zoster.
METHODS
The authors retrospectively reviewed the medical records on 14 cases of disseminated herpes zoster and 402 cases of herpes zoster at the Department of Dermatology Busan Paik hospital during the 3 years from 2010 to 2012, and if necessary, telephone interviews were executed.
RESULTS
The rate of new disseminated herpes zoster outpatients at our dermatology clinic was 0.11% with the mean age of 67.7 years and the males to females ratio was 2.5. The most frequent involved dermatome was the lumbar (42.9%) area. The rate of patients with underlying diseases or immunosuppression, the rates of postherpetic neuralgia and the frequency of narcotic analgesics uses were significantly higher in disseminated herpes zoster as compared with herpes zoster. The patient treatment satisfaction was significantly higher in herpes zoster as compared with disseminated herpes zoster.
CONCLUSION
These results demonstrated that the disseminated herpes zoster is associated with higher rates of underlying diseases, immunosuppression, frequent incidences of postherpetic neuralgia, more uses of narcotic analgesics and lower patient treatment satisfactions as compared with herpes zoster.