THE MOTOR COMPLICATIONS OF HERPES ZOSTER

Abstract
Motor disturbances in cases of herpes zoster are rarely observed. Broadbent1 in 1866 was the first to describe a "case of herpetic eruption in the course of branches of the brachial plexus followed by partial paralysis in corresponding motor nerves." Comparatively few observers have since reported instances of this condition, although much attention has been paid to the motor complications of herpes zoster because of their theoretical interest. Recently we have observed 2 cases of zoster with motor complications in the neurology department of the New York University College of Medicine Clinic. We considered it worth while to review and analyze this problem in the light of our own experience. REPORT OF CASES Case 1.—History.— J. Mel., a man aged 60, admitted to the clinic on Jan. 17, 1940, complained of pain and weakness in his right thigh and leg. His past history was insignificant except for typhoid forty years and gonorrhea twenty years before. About six months before admission to the clinic, the patient wrenched his right leg in a fall. Following this he