title: Varicella gastritis in an immunocompetent child.
abstract: The varicella zoster virus (VZV) is a very rare cause of gastritis. Gastritis caused by VZV can be presented as abdominal pain, vomiting. Most of the cases reported with varicella gastritis in the literature are immunocompromised patients with various kinds of malignancy, and most of these patients are adults. Here we report an adolescent girl with acute abdominal pain. The girl was immunocompetent. Her endoscopically taken biopsy material revealed varicella, and her gastritis was healed with acyclovir therapy. This is a very rare condition and not frequently reported in the literature. The authors want to drive attention to the fact that varicella gastritis can be seen in immunocompetent children, the presentation can be nausea, vomiting and/or (severe) abdominal pain. Serological studies may be less helpful than tissue studies, so interventional procedures should be done.
authors.affiliation: Yeditepe University Hospital, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Istanbul, Turkey. meltemkorkut@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Meltem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ugras
authors.forename: Ayca
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vitrinel
authors.forename: Gulden
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Kenan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Midilli
authors.forename: Ferda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ozkan
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000212:Acyclovir / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000293:Adolescent; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001706:Biopsy; D002644:Chickenpox / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005756:Gastritis / Q000821:virology*; D005773:Gastroscopy; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000212:Acyclovir