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This study was designed to observe more closely about clinical course, complication, predilection site of skin eruption and associated diseases with herpes zoster. Total 122 cases of herpes zoster were prospectively observed from April 1986 to July 1987. The results obtained were as follows : 1. The ineidence of herpes zoster versus the total number of outpatients was 20.6%. There was no difference in sex ratio of male(52.5%) to female(47.5%). 2. Herpes zoster was observed most frequently in the 50-59 year age group (25.4%). 3. There were no marked monthly or seasonal difference in herpes zoster without an explosive outbreak or an epidemic cycle. 4, We found that 68 cases(55.7%) were associated with underlying diseases : the most common disease was hypertension(23 cases), the next one was malignsncy(10 cases), namely, lung cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, other malignant lymphoma, leukemia and mediastinal mass, and the other diseases were tuberculosis of intenal organs, diabetes mellitus, hepatic diseases, cardiac diseases, chronic pulmonary diseases, cord injury, gastric ulcer, brain damage, burn, renal diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, and measles. 5. It was suggested that the distributuon of skin lesion were related to dermatome. The incidence of skin lesion was distributuon in the following region in order : T5-T8(25.4%), C6-T4(24.6%), Cl-C5(20.5%), Ll-S3(13.9%), Vl-V3 (12.3%), and T9-T12(3.3%), there was involvement of the entire thoracic dermatome(C6-T12) in 65 cases(53.3%). A great many cases of malignancy, chronic pulmonary disease, cardiac disease, tuberculosis and gastric ulcer were most frequently distributed in the thoracie dermatome, but the involvement of ophthalmic dermatome was found only in the patients with hypertension. 6. The most common complication was postherpetic neuralgia for 31 cases(25.4%) with the highest frequency in 60’s(32.3%). Other complications were ophthalmic complication, Ramsay-Hunt syndrome, secondary bacterial infection, moter nerve involvement, difficulty of urination, and recurrent herpes zoster.
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