Two linear progressive blistering eruptions in an immunocompromised patient

Abstract

A 90-year-old man with an uroseptic shock was admitted to the intensive care unit with endotracheal tube insertion and immunocompromised status for months. He developed progressive, blistering eruptions on the upper left side of the chest for 4 days. There was no preceding fever, pneumonia, or orogenital ulcer, and the contact history was negative. On examination, 2 noncontiguous groups of vesicles and bullae were linearly distributed on the left T1 and T7 dermatomes (Fig 1). Tzanck smear cytology revealed multinucleated giant cells from the blisters of both the dermatomes (Fig 2).