Abstract
BackgroundHerpes esophagitis is uncommon disease caused by Herpes simplex virus (HSV). While the disease most often occurs in immunocompromised patients, including post-chemotherapy, immunosuppression with organ transplants, and in AIDS, Herpes esophagitis can also occur in immunocompetent individuals.Case presentationWe report a case of herpes esophagitis in a 72 year- old woman who was presumed to be immunocompromised following prolonged radiotherapy and chemotherapy for lymphoma. Her main symptom was epigastric pain.Upper endoscopy showed multiple rounded ulcers in lower esophagus. The diagnosis was confirmed histologically by multiple biopsies. The patient received Valacyclovir for 2 weeks and started to get better within 3 days of treatment.ConclusionAlthough there are few published cases of Herpes esophagitis disease in the medical literature, we recommend that this disease should be considered as one of the differential diagnoses when assessing immuno-compromised patients presenting with non-specific abdominal symptoms.
Highlights
Herpes esophagitis is uncommon disease caused by Herpes simplex virus (HSV)
Conclusion: there are few published cases of Herpes esophagitis disease in the medical literature, we recommend that this disease should be considered as one of the differential diagnoses when assessing immunocompromised patients presenting with non-specific abdominal symptoms
We performed upper endoscopy and found multiple rounded ulcers in the lower esophagus (Fig. 1) and sent a biopsy for pathology examination that showed fragments of squamous mucosa with massive neutrophilic and eosinophilic exocytosis, enlarged nuclei and multinucleation (Fig. 2), there were no herpetic lesions in oral cavity, pharynx, upper and middle esophagus, these findings suggested acute ulcerated esophagitis consistent with herpes simplex viral etiology, no malignancy was in the specimen
Summary
There are few published cases of Herpes esophagitis disease in the medical literature, we recommend that this disease should be considered as one of the differential diagnoses when assessing immunocompromised patients presenting with non-specific abdominal symptoms
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