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  • Herpes zoster reactivation during head and neck cancer therapy: interpreting post-treatment positron emission tomography/CT imaging

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Case report
Herpes zoster reactivation during head and neck cancer therapy: interpreting post-treatment positron emission tomography/CT imaging
  1. Krishna Bommakanti1 and
  2. Charles Coffey2
  1. 1Department of Head & Neck Surgery, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
  2. 2Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology/ Head & Neck Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Charles Coffey; cscoffey{at}health.ucsd.edu

Abstract

The risk of herpes zoster reactivation in patients undergoing cancer treatment is significant, though this phenomenon has rarely been reported in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) population. We aim to report the potential for infection to lead to false-positive findings on positron emission tomography/CT in these patients. This case highlights the potential for herpes zoster reactivation to result in false-positive findings on post-treatment imaging following chemoradiation for HNSCC. It is therefore imperative for providers to be aware of this when evaluating patients during and after treatment for HNSCC.

  • ear
  • nose and throat/otolaryngology
  • head and neck cancer
  • radiotherapy
  • infectious diseases

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2020-236878

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors KB: conception and design, drafting and critical revision, final approval and accountable for all aspects of work. CC: conception, design, acquisition, interpretation, drafting and critical revision, final approval and accountable for all aspects of work.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Ethics approval This retrospective case report was deemed exempt from Institutional Review Board review (HRD180136).

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.