title: Concurrent Ramsay Hunt syndrome and disseminated herpes zoster in a patient with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
abstract: Ramsay Hunt Syndrome (RHS) is a rare complication of latent varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection that can occur in immunocompetent host. It usually involves ipsilateral facial paralysis, ear pain and facial vesicles. Disseminated herpes zoster is another complication of VZV infection typically seen in immunocompromised hosts. We describe a patient with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who presented simultaneously with RHS and disseminated herpes zoster. While other complications have been documented to coexist with RHS, to our knowledge, this is the first reported case in the literature of concurrent RHS with disseminated herpes zoster.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Ishita
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Raymond B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Fohtung
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Hanadi Ajam
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Oughli
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Caline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mattar
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Powderly
authors.affiliation: Division of Hospital Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Thoelke
keywords: CLL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia; CTCL, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma; Chronic lymphocytic leukemia; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; RHS, Ramsay Hunt syndrome; Ramsay Hunt syndrome; VZV, varicella-zoster virus; Varicella zoster virus