Herpes Zoster Resembling Acute Varicella Associated with Multiple Myeloma

THE ASSOCIATION of herpes zoster infections with diseases of the lymphoma group is well known.1-3Less frequently reported is the occurrence of such infections in the course of multiple myeloma. The purpose of the present communication is to report the occurrence of generalized herpes zoster in a patient with multiple myeloma, and the apparent beneficial effect of human gamma globulin upon this infection. Report of a Case A 50-year-old white man was admitted to the hospital with a generalized skin eruption of 8 days' duration. The diagnosis of multiple myeloma had been made 2 ½ years prior to this admission on the basis of multiple osteolytic bone lesions, anemia, bone-marrow plasmacytosis, hyperglobulinemia, and a serum protein electrophoretic pattern which showed a prominent homogenous peak in the gamma globulin fraction. The chief symptom was upper back pain caused by collapse fractures of the fifth and sixth dorsal vertebrae. Treatment consisted