eMedicine Specialties > Ophthalmology > Infectious Disease
Herpes Zoster: Differential Diagnoses & Workup
Updated: Dec 17, 2009
- Overview
- Differential Diagnoses & Workup
- Treatment & Medication
- Follow-up
- Multimedia
Differential Diagnoses
Other Problems to Be Considered
Traumatic abrasions
Paralytic ptosis
Cicatricial lid retraction or loss
Iridocyclitis
Cataract
Postherpetic neuralgia
Orbital apex syndrome
Inflammatory syndromes
Argyll Robertson pupil
Retinitis
Choroiditis
Optic neuritis
Extraocular muscle palsies
Cluster headache
Tension headache
Otitis externa
Otitis media
Hemorrhagic stroke
Ischemic stroke
Isolated facial nerve trauma
Workup
Laboratory Studies
- Herpes zoster is diagnosed mostly on the basis of the characteristic pain and appearance of the dermatomal rashes. More often than not, laboratory tests are unnecessary. Empiric treatment, when indicated, should not be delayed pending the results of diagnostic tests.
- On rare occasion that a differential diagnosis of several skin lesions must be made, confirmatory laboratory examinations may be undertaken. These tests include morphologic, immunomorphologic, viral isolation, serologic, and cellular immunity tests.
- Morphologic tests may involve the Tzanck staining techniques (eg, Giemsa, Wright, and/or Papanicolaou staining and light and/or electron microscopy).
- Tzanck smears are regarded as simple procedures for the rapid presumptive diagnosis of VZV.
- Typical findings are multinucleated giant syncytial cells, homogenization of nuclear chromatin, and acidophilic intranuclear antibodies with faceted contours. These results may help in identifying the herpes virus, but they cannot be used to distinguish VZV.
- Scrapings for smears and cultures are usually negative, and biopsy is required for definitive diagnosis. Biopsy typically includes culture and histopathologic examination with special stains and/or polymerase chain reaction of extracted DNA.64,65
- Immunologic tests for viral antigen
- Direct immunofluorescence or immunoperoxidase stains
- Radioimmunoassay
- Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
- Agar gel immunodiffusion
- Immunoelectrophoresis
- Molecular biology of VZV DNA66,67,68
- In situ hybridization
- Polymerase chain reaction
Other Tests
- Cell-mediated immunity testing
- VZV antigen skin test
- VZV lymphocyte proliferation
- Serology for VZV antibodies
- Neutralizing or complement-fixing antibody tests
- Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
- Radioimmunoassay
- Membrane antigen immunofluorescence
- Immune adherence hemagglutination
Procedures
- Biopsy for direct immunofluorescence testing (see Lab Studies)
Histologic Findings
Histopathologic findings result from viral replication, secondary inflammation, and vascular occlusion. The pathologic hallmark of reactivating herpes zoster is ganglionic inflammation and hemorrhagic necrosis of the ganglion and corresponding sensory nerve.
Characteristic findings in involved areas include the following: multinucleated giant cells, intranuclear inclusion bodies, ballooning and reticular degeneration, acantholytic keratinocytes, and perivascular infiltrate (polymorphonuclear neutrophils [PMNs] and mononuclear cells).
In chronic herpes zoster infections, a granulomatous reaction (epithelioid and multinucleated giant cells) may be found intraocularly (eg, ciliary body, choroid, retina).
More on Herpes Zoster |
| Overview: Herpes Zoster |
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Herpes Zoster |
| Treatment & Medication: Herpes Zoster |
| Follow-up: Herpes Zoster |
| Multimedia: Herpes Zoster |
| References |
| Further Reading |
| « Previous Page | Next Page » |
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Further Reading
Guidelines
Recommendations for the management of herpes zoster.
Prevention of herpes zoster. Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Keywords
herpes zoster, herpes zoster ophthalmicus, varicella-zoster virus, chickenpox, shingles, varicella, postherpetic neuralgia, herpes zoster oticus, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, dermatomal zoster, zona, Hutchinson sign, VZV, HZO
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Herpes Zoster