Zoster paresis of the shoulder - Case report and review of the literature

More than 95% of people in the United States are infected with the varicell a tester virus at some time in life, and this infection usually is manifest ed as chicken pox during childhood. The virus then establishes a latent inf ection of sensory ganglia, from which it may reactivate many gears later to cause herpes tester (shingles), a cutaneous painful rash along a dermatoma l distribution. Less commonly, the varicella tester virus may result in myo tomal motor weakness or paralysis in addition to a painful dermatomal rash. A case of unilateral left C5-C6 segmental paresis attributable to herpes t ester in an otherwise healthy individual and a current review of the litera ture are presented. A case of tester paresis of the shoulder muscles is pre sented to remind the orthopaedic community that this diagnosis may be confu sed with other diagnoses, including rotator cuff tear, and should be consid ered in the differential diagnosis of shoulder pain and shoulder girdle mus cle weakness.