Abstract
An 80-year old woman presented to our institution with severe odynophagia. Gastroendoscopy revealed the presence of multiple small, oval ulcers, some of them agglutinated, from the oral cavity to the gastro-esophageal junction. Histopathological analysis of a biopsy specimen of the ulcer margin revealed degenerative epithelial cells with intranuclear eosinophilic inclusion bodies and multinucleated epithelial giant cells. Therefore, HSV esophagitis was suspected, and valacyclovir was administered for 6 days. Two days later, the symptoms resolved. Subsequently, the patient was revealed positive for serum HSV-1 IgM and IgG as well as anti-HSV-antibody by immunohistochemical analysis, confirming the diagnosis of HSV esophagitis. Gastroendoscopy performed 10 days after the treatment revealed the total disappearance of the esophageal lesions. The patient was discharged on 22 days after admission.
Highlights
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) esophagitis is presented with its characteristic endoscopic findings, including small, oval, punchedout ulcers with shallow geographic coverage
HSV is latently infected in the trigeminal nerves, HSV is sometimes secreted into the saliva by some cause
HSV esophagitis occurs as a result of the infection of HSV-1 or -2 which is secreted into the esophageal mucosa through saliva
Summary
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) esophagitis is presented with its characteristic endoscopic findings, including small, oval, punchedout ulcers with shallow geographic coverage. We here present a case of HSV esophagitis that was presented with its characteristic features. Gastroendoscopy revealed the presence of multiple small, oval ulcers, some of them agglutinated, from the oral cavity to the Histopathological analysis of a biopsy specimen of the ulcer margin revealed degenerative epithelial cells with intranuclear eosinophilic inclusion bodies and multinucleated epithelial giant cells (Figure 2).
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