title: Granulomatous vasculitis occurring after cutaneous herpes zoster despite absence of viral genome.
abstract: Granuloma annulare, sarcoidal and other granulomatous dermatitides, pseudolymphoma, lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma, and Kaposi's sarcoma have been described as sequelae of herpes zoster. We report a new postzoster reaction, granulomatous vasculitis, that caused flat-topped papules restricted to the affected dermatome. Polymerase chain reaction failed to detect varicella-zoster virus in a biopsy specimen. These results suggest that granulomatous vasculitis occurs without persistence of the viral genome and, perhaps, is a reaction to minute amounts of viral proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0506.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Langenberg
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: LeBoit
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004267:DNA Viruses / Q000032:analysis*; D006099:Granuloma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology