Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Vol 155, No. 1, Jan 1997, 371-373.
Pleural effusion due to herpes simplex type II infection in an immunocompromised host
FJ Trudo, EV Gopez, PK Gupta, MG Schuster and G Tino
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia 19104-4283, USA.
Pleural effusions caused by herpes simplex viruses are rare. We report a
case of a young woman with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and prolonged
neutropenia who developed pleural space infection with herpes simplex type
II virus (HSV II), as confirmed by cytologic and microbiologic studies. We
believe that this is the first report of a pleural effusion caused by HSV
II, and suggest that this virus now be considered in the differential
diagnosis of an unexplained exudative pleural effusion, especially in an
immunocompromised host.
