Somatosensory findings in postherpetic neuralgia
- PMID: 2313300
- PMCID: PMC487954
- DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.53.2.135
Somatosensory findings in postherpetic neuralgia
Abstract
Somatic sensory perception thresholds (warm, cold, hot pain, touch, pinprick, vibration, two-point discrimination), allodynia and skin temperature were assessed in the affected area of 42 patients with unilateral postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) and 20 patients who had had unilateral shingles not followed by PHN (NoPHN), and in the mirror-image area on the other side. There was no difference between the two groups for age or length of time after the acute herpes zoster infection. The PHN group showed significant changes in all sensory threshold measurements when the affected area was compared with the mirror-image area on the unaffected side, while the NoPHN group exhibited no threshold changes. Mechanical allodynia was present in 87% of the PHN group; half of the 12 patients with ophthalmic PHN showed extension of allodynia to the maxillary distribution. No differences in skin temperature were recorded between affected and unaffected regions in either group. Our findings show a deficit of sensory functions mediated by both large and small primary afferent fibres and also suggest major central involvement in the pathophysiology of the condition. If PHN does not occur following acute herpes zoster, recovery of neural functions appears to be good.
Similar articles
-
Clinical and neurophysiological observations on acute herpes zoster.Clin J Pain. 1990 Dec;6(4):284-90. doi: 10.1097/00002508-199012000-00005. Clin J Pain. 1990. PMID: 2135028
-
Postherpetic neuralgia. Are C-nociceptors involved in signalling and maintenance of tactile allodynia?Brain. 1993 Dec;116 ( Pt 6):1477-96. doi: 10.1093/brain/116.6.1477. Brain. 1993. PMID: 8293282
-
Pain and somatosensory dysfunction in acute herpes zoster.Clin J Pain. 1999 Jun;15(2):78-84. doi: 10.1097/00002508-199906000-00003. Clin J Pain. 1999. PMID: 10382920
-
Postherpetic neuralgia: irritable nociceptors and deafferentation.Neurobiol Dis. 1998 Oct;5(4):209-27. doi: 10.1006/nbdi.1998.0204. Neurobiol Dis. 1998. PMID: 9848092 Review.
-
The role of sympathetic nerve blocks in herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia.Pain. 2000 Aug;87(2):121-129. doi: 10.1016/S0304-3959(00)00230-X. Pain. 2000. PMID: 10924805 Review.
Cited by
-
Central pain: clinical and physiological characteristics.J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1996 Jul;61(1):62-9. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.61.1.62. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1996. PMID: 8676164 Free PMC article.
-
Natural history of pain following herpes zoster.Pain. 2007 Mar;128(1-2):148-56. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2006.09.021. Epub 2006 Oct 27. Pain. 2007. PMID: 17070998 Free PMC article.
-
Kir2.1 Channel Regulation of Glycinergic Transmission Selectively Contributes to Dynamic Mechanical Allodynia in a Mouse Model of Spared Nerve Injury.Neurosci Bull. 2019 Apr;35(2):301-314. doi: 10.1007/s12264-018-0285-8. Epub 2018 Sep 11. Neurosci Bull. 2019. PMID: 30203408 Free PMC article.
-
Was ist der “sympathisch unterhaltene Schmerz” oder wie, ‘Pu der Bär’ den Nordpol entdeckte.Schmerz. 1995 Nov;9(6):269-72. doi: 10.1007/BF02530152. Schmerz. 1995. PMID: 18415517 German. No abstract available.
-
Current gene therapy using viral vectors for chronic pain.Mol Pain. 2015 May 13;11:27. doi: 10.1186/s12990-015-0018-1. Mol Pain. 2015. PMID: 25962909 Free PMC article. Review.
References
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical