Angiographic findings in herpes zoster arteritis

Four adults patients who experienced an ipsilateral hemispheric deficit 6 to 8 weeks after having developed herpes zoster ophthalmicus were seen during a six-month period. All four patients underwent full-circle angiography, including study of the extracranial arteries in the three older patients. Each examination demonstrated areas of segmental constriction of arteries on the ipsilateral side; two locations that were especially affected were the A2 segment of the pericallosal artery beneath the genu of the corpus callosum and the M4 segment of the middle cerebral artery. The cerebral arteries of the opposite hemisphere and the extracranial vessels did not contain demonstrable abnormalities. Pathological studies suggest that patients with this syndrome may have a necrotizing arteritis of ipsilateral blood vessels; in patients with disseminated zoster, a granulomatous angiitis of cerebral blood vessels has been found. We propose that the pattern of angiographic abnormalities described here is characteristic of herpes zoster arteritis; furthermore, the distribution pattern of the lesions suggests that the virus may spread to these arteries via branches of the ophthalmic division of the trigeminal nerve.