Rapid diagnosis of varicella zoster virus infection in acute facial palsy.
Patients with zoster sine herpete and Ramsay Hunt syndrome without pathognomonic vesicles at the initial visit are often misdiagnosed with Bell's palsy and treated without antiviral agents. With PCR, we found that varicella zoster virus genomes were frequently detectable in auricular skin exudate from patients with zoster sine herpete or Ramsay Hunt syndrome before the appearance of vesicles.
Department of Otolaryngology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Japan.
S
S
Murakami
N
N
Honda
M
M
Mizobuchi
Y
Y
Nakashiro
N
N
Hato
K
K
Gyo
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D004423:Ear; D005122:Exudates and Transudates / Q000821:virology; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000821:virology; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012867:Skin / Q000821:virology; D013666:Tears / Q000821:virology
D004279:DNA, Viral