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Cough after laryngeal herpes zoster: a new aspect of post-herpetic sensory disturbance
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 January 2014
Abstract
Although neurogenic cough is increasingly recognised, its pathophysiology remains obscure. We describe two cases of chronic cough following laryngeal herpes zoster, a rarely described manifestation of varicella-zoster virus reactivation, and suggest that this may be analogous to post-herpetic neuralgia. The same mechanisms may cause both phenomena.
We describe two cases of chronic cough persisting for more than three months following an acute attack of laryngeal herpes zoster.
Neuronal damage by varicella-zoster virus results in irritable nociceptors and deafferentation, mechanisms known to cause post-herpetic neuralgia. When the vagus nerve is affected, as in laryngeal herpes zoster, the result may be a chronic cough. Similar damage may underlie chronic neurogenic cough in other contexts.
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- Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2014
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