[A woman with shortness of breath and a rash]

Lisa M Verheul1,2, Hans A Hardeman1

  • 1St. Antonius Ziekenhuis, afd. Longgeneeskunde, Utrecht.

A 74-year-old woman presented with progressive dyspnoea which started a few days after developing a unilateral dermatomal rash characteristic for herpes zoster at dermatome C4-C5. X-ray of the thorax showed an elevated hemidiaphragm ipsilateral of the skin abnormalities. Cervical herpes zoster is a rare cause of a unilateral elevated hemidiaphragm.

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