Early-second-trimester use of acyclovir in treating herpes zoster in a bone marrow transplant patient. A case report

Abstract

Bone marrow transplantation from a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical sibling for treatment of severe aplastic anemia among women of reproductive age is becoming more common. Successful pregnancy has been reported to occur in several such patients. A woman delivered a healthy, term, female infant 18 months after a transplant from her HLA-identical sister. Her pregnancy was complicated by disseminated herpes zoster, treated with intravenous acyclovir at 14 weeks' gestation, before the diagnosis of pregnancy. While there have been several case reports involving the use of acyclovir in the third trimester, primarily in the treatment of varicella infections, there have been no previous reports of such an early utilization of this antiviral drug.