Herpes Zoster Mimicking Breast Cancer With Axillary Lymph Node Metastasis on PET/CT

Herpes zoster is a reactivated varicella-zoster virus infection and demonstrates typical dermatomal distribution. We herein describe a case of a 41-year-old woman with a history of ovarian cancer. Intense hot uptake in the left breast and enlarged ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes were noted on ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT for adjuvant chemotherapy response evaluation. Blinded to the patient's clinical information, these lesions were interpreted as incidental breast cancer with axillary nodal metastasis. However, clinically she presented with vesicles along the T4 dermatome and palpable enlarged nodes in the left axilla. On 3-month follow-up PET/CT after antiviral treatment, these intense hot uptake areas were no longer visualized.