South Clin Ist Euras. Ahead of Print: SCIE-43760 | DOI: 10.14744/scie.2021.43760

Risk factors for postherpetic neuralgia in immunocompetent patients

Yasemin Nadir¹, Hüseyin Arslan^2
1Sandikli Public Hospital, Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology
²Sandikli Public Hospital, Clinic of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

INTRODUCTION: The most common and important complication of herpes zoster is Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). PHN generally affects the elderly and immunocompromised populations. There are many studies investigating the risk factors for PHN, however, these studies were generally performed among immunocompromised patients. This article aims to quantify risk factors for PHN in immunocompetent zoster patients
METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 106 patients diagnosed with herpes zoster and aged ≥ 18 years between January 2017 and May 2019 in this study. Eight participants with immunocompromised status or under immunosuppressive treatment were excluded. Our underlying definition of PHN was pain persisting >90 days following zoster diagnosis. According to the occurrence of PHN, the patients were divided into the PHN group (n=18) and the nonPHN group. (n=80). The variables that can affect the development of PHN investigated by comparing these two groups.
RESULTS: 98 pateints were eligible for inclusion, mean age was 58,62±17,53 years. PHN was determined in 18,4% of the participants. PHN is mostly seen in the autumn. PHN group were significantly older (mean age 68,72) than patients in nonPHN group (56,35 years). PHN was higher in patients with chronic diseases. Patients with nonthoracic dermatome involvement were more likely to get PHN. There were no proportional difference detected between genders and there were no differences between antiviral drug groups for PHN incidence
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In this study being with chronic disease, increased age, nonthoracic dermatome involvement were found to be risk factors for developing PHN among immunocompetent hosts. As a new finding, we found that PHN has a higher incidence in autumn.

Keywords: Herpes zoster, Postherpetic neuralgia, risk factors

---

Ýmmunkompetan bireylerde postherpetik nevralji için risk faktörleri

Yasemin Nadir¹, Hüseyin Arslan^2
1Sandýklý Devlet Hastanesi, Enfeksiyon Hastalýklarý ve Klinik Mikrobiyoloji
²Sandýklý Devlet Hastanesi, Fizik Tedavi ve Rehabilitasyon

GÝRÝÞ ve AMAÇ: Postherpetik nevralji (PHN), herpes zosterin (HZ) en önemli komplikasyonudur. Özellikle yaþlý ve immunsupresif bireylerde sýklýkla görüldüðü bilinmektedir. Bu nedenle immunsupresif herpes zosterli hastalar arasýnda PHN risk faktörlerini araþtýran birçok çalýþma yapýlmýþtýr. Biz de çalýþmamýzda immunkompetan bireylerdeki PHN risk faktörlerini araþtýrmayý amaçladýk.
YÖNTEM ve GEREÇLER: Bu çalýþmada ocak 2017- mayýs 2019 tarihleri arasýnda baþvuran 18 yaþ üzeri ve klinik olarak akut herpes zoster tanýsý alan 106 hastanýn kayýtlarýný retrospektif olarak taradýk. Ýmmunsupresif hastalýðý olan veya immunsupresif ilaç kullanan 8 hasta çalýþmaya dahil edilmedi. HZ tanýsýndan sonra en az 90 gün devam eden aðrý PHN olarak deðerlendirildi ve buna göre hastalar iki grupta incelendi; PHN (n=18) ve nonPHN grubu (n=80). PHN geliþimini etkileyebilecek deðiþkenler bu iki grup kýyaslanarak incelendi.
BULGULAR: Çalýþmaya dahil edilen 98 hastanýn yaþ ortalamasý 58,62±17,53 yaþ olarak saptandý. Bu hastalarýn %18.4' nde PHN geliþti. PHN geliþen hastalarýn sýklýkla hastaneye sonbaharda baþvurduðu gözlendi. PHN grubun yaþ ortalamasý (68,72) istatistiksel olarak nonPHN grubun yaþ ortalamasýndan (56,35) yüksek bulundu. Kronik hastalýðý olan hastalarda, olmayanlara göre PHN geliþimi daha sýk saptandý. PHN geliþen hastalarda torasik tutulum daha sýk görülse de, nontorasik tutulumu olanlarýn daha yüksek oranda PHN geliþtirdiði gözlemlendi. Ancak cinsiyet ve hastalarýn kullandýðý ilaç gruplarý açýsýndan anlamlý bir farklýlýk bulunamadý.
TARTIÞMA ve SONUÇ: Bu çalýþmada, herpes zosteri olan immunkompetan bireylerde; ileri yaþ, kronik hastalýðýn olmasý ve nontorasik dermatom tutulumunun olmasý PHN için risk faktörü olarak saptandý. Çalýþmamýzda sonbahar mevsiminde baþvuran hastalarda istatistiksel olarak yüksek oranda PHN geliþtiðinin gözlenmesi dikkat çekici bir bulguydu.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Herpes zoster, Postherpetik nevralji, risk faktörleri

---