title: Zosteriform cutaneous metastases: a case report and brief review of literature.
abstract: A 56-year-old woman presented with painful erythematous, papulo-nodular lesions on the left side of the trunk in a dermatomal distribution of two-weeks duration. She had earlier undergone surgery for breast carcinoma and was receiving palliative chemo-radiotherapy, when seen by us. A diagnosis of zosteriform cutaneous metastases was made and biopsy was done from the representative lesion which showed chords and sheets of malignant cells. Majority of these cases in the past have been misdiagnosed as herpes zoster and were treated with antiviral drugs. Metastatic diseases should be considered in the differential diagnosis of zosteriform rash in elderly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Skin & VD, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal, 576 104, India. jenny.rao@manipal.edu
authors.forename: Raghavendra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Balachandran
authors.forename: Lakshmi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary*