Herpes esophagitis: a cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in an immunocompetent patient.
Herpes esophagitis presents as dysphagia and odynophagia in the majority of cases. Rarely has hematemesis been reported. We report a case of herpes esophagitis presenting with hematemesis in an immunocompetent patient. This 67-year-old man suffered from herpes esophagitis, proven by a panendoscopic examination, with characteristic histological findings. He presented with hematemesis and passage of tarry stools, but was otherwise healthy with normal humoral, cell-mediated immunity and was negative for human immunodeficiency virus antibody. Only supportive treatment was given. He has been well for the past nine months since the initial diagnosis.
Department of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
R N
RN
Chien
P C
PC
Chen
P Y
PY
Lin
C S
CS
Wu
D000368:Aged; D004941:Esophagitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007121:Immunocompetence; D008297:Male