 |
Vol.38 No.6 contents | Japanese/English |
- Case Report -
A Case of Small Cell Lung Cancer Developing Herpes Zoster with Widespread Cutaneous Dissemination Early in the First Course of Chemotherapy
Masao Harada, Takahisa Saitoh and Hiroshi IsobeDepartment of Respiratory Disease, National Sapporo Hospital
A 70-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with a mass shadow on chest roentgenogram. The tumor in the periphery of the left lower lobe that abutted the pleural surface was diagnosed as small cell carcinoma by transthoracic needle aspiration performed at the ninth intercostal space. On day 5 of the first course of chemotherapy with carboplatin and etoposide he developed herpes zoster in the area of the ninth thoracic dermatome, followed on day 7 by a disseminated eruption widely over the skin and oral mucosa with high fever. After treating with acyclovir and γ-globulin, he had no other complications of herpes zoster. Patients with solid tumor rarely develop widely disseminated zoster shortly after the initiation of chemotherapy. The clinical course in this case suggests that transthoracic needle aspiration rather than the tumor affects the intercostal nerve, which may have resulted in activation of latent virus in the ganglion, and that chemotherapy may have precipitated the following widespread dissemination.
key words: Lung cancer, Small cell carcinoma, Disseminated herpes zoster, Chemotherapy, Transthoracic needle aspiration biopsy
Received: February 23, 1998
Accepted: July 31, 1998
JJLC 38 (6): 703-707, 1998
