Varicella Related Stroke in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Systemic Sclerosis Overlap

Fahidah Alenzi^1, and Abdulrahman Al Arfaj²

¹Rheumatology -King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Saudi Arabia

²College of medicine, Rheumatology section, King Saud University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Cite this paper:
Fahidah Alenzi and Abdulrahman Al Arfaj. Varicella Related Stroke in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Systemic Sclerosis Overlap. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2016; 4(9):321-323. doi: 10.12691/ajmcr-4-9-8

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus and systemic sclerosis reduce the body ability to fight infections. Although varicella zoster virus (VZV) infections arecommon in these diseases due to poor cellular immunity, VZV-related strokes arerare. When stroke does occur, it may be due to direct infection of the cerebral arteries, leading to a spectrum of both inflammatory and non-inflammatory pathological changes, including thrombosis. This case report is the first from the Middle East to describe a patient who developed stroke associated with herpes zoster ophthalmicus.

Keywords:
varicella zoster stroke systematic lupus erythematosus

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