This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on ISI (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Bacterial Infections  • Viral Infections  • Meningitis  • Dermatology  • Herpes  • Alert me on articles by topic

A Clue to Diagnosis of Herpes Simplex Virus 2 Meningitis

Nicole Gonzales, MD; Kenneth L. Tyler, MD; Donald H. Gilden, MD

Arch Neurol. 2003;60:868-869.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

We report the first case, to our knowledge, of a patient with a history of recurrent zosteriform (dermatomal vesicular) skin eruptions and concurrent aseptic meningitis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proved that aseptic meningitis was caused by HSV-2.

REPORT OF A CASE

A 37-year-old woman developed fever, chills, acute occipital and nuchal headache described as the "worst of my life," nuchal rigidity, and photophobia in association with blisterlike lesions on her lower back and buttock in the region of the right L4 and L5 dermatomes. She reported recurrent episodes every 3 to 4 months of crops of identical vesicular lesions on an erythematous base for the past 4 years, unassociated with systemic or neurological symptoms. There was no history of genital herpes. On examination, she was afebrile. The skin over the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

COMMENT

From the Departments of Neurology (Drs Gonzales, Tyler, and Gilden), Microbiology (Drs Tyler and Gilden), and Medicine and Immunology (Dr Tyler), University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver; and the Neurology Service (Dr Tyler), Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Denver.