Herpes Zoster as a Useful Clinical Marker of Underlying Cell-mediated Immune Disorders

SÖYÜNCÜ S., Berk Y., Eken C., Gülen B., OKTAY C.

ANNALS ACADEMY OF MEDICINE SINGAPORE, cilt.38, sa.2, ss.136-138, 2009 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 38 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2009
  • Dergi Adı: ANNALS ACADEMY OF MEDICINE SINGAPORE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.136-138
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Cell-mediated immunity, Emergency department, Immunosuppression, MULTIPLE-MYELOMA, POPULATION, RISK, INFECTIONS, CANCER, VIRUS
  • Akdeniz Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Introduction: The objective of this study was to determine the necessity of further evaluation of patients presented with herpes zoster (HZ) to the Emergency Department for the underlying decreased cell-mediated immunity. Materials and Methods: The data of 132 adult patients presenting with HZ to the Emergency Department were collected from the computerised database of Akdeniz University Hospital. The following data were recorded: demographic data and underlying diseases during onset of HZ and laboratory results (white blood cell counts, blood glucose levels). Results: There were 132 patients with HZ in the study period. The mean age of patients was 52.98 +/- 18.91 years (range, 14 to 96) and 53% (70 patients) were male. Of the study patients, 70.5% (93 patients) were over 45 years old. Eight (6.1%) patients had been diagnosed to have a malignancy, 18 (13.6%) had diabetes mellitus and 3 (2.3%) patients had undergone organ transplantation during their admission. Malignancy, diabetes mellitus and organ transplantation prevalence in the HZ group was significantly higher than the whole Emergency Department population. Conclusions: Our results indicate a relationship between the presence of HZ and increasing age and cell-mediated immunosuppressive disorders in Emergency Department patients over the age of 45 years. HZ should be considered as a clinical marker of cell-mediated immunosuppressive disorders, particularly in elderly patients.