Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus Complicated by Contralateral Hemiplegia

Abstract

The fact that only five accepted cases of herpes zoster ophthalmicus complicated by contralateral hemiplegia have been reported in the literature and that most well trained ophthalmologists have never associated the two conditions as possibly being connected was recently brought to mind by such a case. A study of the literature reveals no mention of this condition in any of the ophthalmic journals. It is not improbable that many cases go unrecognized and, as many zoster patients are elderly, the hemiplegia is labeled an ordinary cerebral thrombosis occurring in a debilitated patient, and no thought is given to any possible connection between the two conditions. This is the more likely in that the hemiplegia usually occurs several weeks after the acute phase of the eye involvement has subsided, and by this time the ophthalmologist is not consulted by the patient for the hemiplegia. Likewise the internist or even the neurological