Pneumothorax secondary to ipsilateral herpes zoster pectoralis.

Sir, Herpes zoster manifests as a result of the reactivation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV), in latent infection, in the sensory ganglia of the cerebral and spinal nerves. It is caused by various factors after childhood chickenpox. The vesicular eruption clusters around the sensory nerve distribution and is accompanied by severe pain. As the skin lesion recovers dependent on the extent of necrotic eschar, sequelae such as depressed scar, RamsayHunt syndrome, hearing loss and impaired vision remain (1). When cough and dyspnea accompany ipsilateral pain in herpes zoster pectoralis patients, diseases such as pneumothorax should also be considered, and careful physical examination and routine laboratory tests should be carried out. We report a case of secondary pneumothorax which seemed to be caused by herpes zoster pectoralis.