[Herpes zoster in the pharynx]

Abstract

A 74-year-old woman was suspected of having a peritonsillar abscess. She had a light-coloured coating on the pharynx and the larynx, bordering to the left of the median line, as well as laryngeal edema on the side of the lesion. On the basis of precisely unilateral findings we arrived at pharyngeal herpes zoster as the working diagnosis. The diagnosis was further supported by the detection of varicella-zoster virus DNA in the mucosa and the presence of positive IgM antibody levels. The patient was treated with an antiviral drug, an antimicrobial drug and a glucocorticoid. Mucosal lesions and edema returned to normal, and the patient was discharged. The precise unilaterality of the symptoms is essential to the diagnosis.