[Herpetic esophagitis]

Herpetic esophagitis is an infrequent ulcerative infection of the esophagus caused by Herpes Virus type I. It is usually seen in immunocompromised patients though it may present in immunocompetent ones. Odynophagia and/or dysphagia associated with chest pain are the most frequent clinical symptoms. Radiology, endoscopy, biopsy and serological markers are the basis for diagnosis. We report 3 patients with herpetic esophagitis diagnosed between 1984-1989 and evaluated the clinical, endoscopic and biopsy characteristics. Certain clinical and endoscopic findings common to our patients tend to identify the disease, with biopsy and or serological markers the diagnosis may be established.