Longitudinal Evaluation of Serum Varicella-zoster Virus Viral Load in a Woman with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Complicated by a Visceral Disseminated Varicella-zoster Virus Infection: A Case Report
Abstract
Visceral disseminated varicella-zoster virus infection (VD-VZV) is a rare but life-threatening condition, and treatment-response monitoring has not yet been established. We report a case of a 47-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus who developed primary varicella complicated by VD-VZV during prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil therapy. She presented with a generalized vesicular rash, dyspnea, severe epigastric pain, pneumonia, and acute hepatitis with negative VZV IgM/IgG. Intravenous acyclovir was initiated and escalated, resulting in a clinical improvement. Serum VZV DNA quantified by droplet digital PCR peaked on day 4 (3.1×106 copies/mL) and declined with recovery, suggesting that serial serum VZV DNA monitoring may be useful for assessing the disease activity and treatment response in such patients.
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BibTeX
@article{omoto2026longitudinal,
title = {{Longitudinal Evaluation of Serum Varicella-zoster Virus Viral Load in a Woman with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Complicated by a Visceral Disseminated Varicella-zoster Virus Infection: A Case Report}},
author = {Takuji Omoto and Hiroki Kitagawa and Keitaro Omori and Kayoko Tadera and Toshihito Nomura and Norifumi Shigemoto and Shintaro Hirata and Hiroki Ohge},
journal = {Internal Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.2169/internalmedicine.7804-26},
url = {https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/internalmedicine/advpub/0/advpub_7804-26/_article},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Longitudinal Evaluation of Serum Varicella-zoster Virus Viral Load in a Woman with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Complicated by a Visceral Disseminated Varicella-zoster Virus Infection: A Case Report
AU - Takuji Omoto
AU - Hiroki Kitagawa
AU - Keitaro Omori
AU - Kayoko Tadera
AU - Toshihito Nomura
AU - Norifumi Shigemoto
AU - Shintaro Hirata
AU - Hiroki Ohge
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/19
JO - Internal Medicine
DO - 10.2169/internalmedicine.7804-26
UR - https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/internalmedicine/advpub/0/advpub_7804-26/_article
AB - Visceral disseminated varicella-zoster virus infection (VD-VZV) is a rare but life-threatening condition, and treatment-response monitoring has not yet been established. We report a case of a 47-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus who developed primary varicella complicated by VD-VZV during prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil therapy. She presented with a generalized vesicular rash, dyspnea, severe epigastric pain, pneumonia, and acute hepatitis with negative VZV IgM/IgG. Intravenous acyclovir was initiated and escalated, resulting in a clinical improvement. Serum VZV DNA quantified by droplet digital PCR peaked on day 4 (3.1×106 copies/mL) and declined with recovery, suggesting that serial serum VZV DNA monitoring may be useful for assessing the disease activity and treatment response in such patients.
SN - 1349-7235
SN - 0918-2918
ER -