Herpes Zoster producing temporary erectile dysfunction

Abstract

Varicella Zoster affecting the sacral dermatomes is a rare but well recognised cause of urinary retention. Only one case of erectile dysfunction associated with Varicella Zoster has previously been described, which was longstanding, but no cases of transient erectile dysfunction following Zoster infection are recorded. We present one such case.

A population-based case-control analysis of the association between Herpes Zoster and Erectile Dysfunction

“…17 Another 64 year-old man with HZ reported ED after recovering from his primary presentation with acute urinary retention. 23 A recent case provided by Erol et al presented with urinary retention, ED, and meningitis attributed to sacral HZ. 18 The mechanism by which the occurrence of ED is associated with prior HZ episodes is unclear, yet preliminary evidence has suggested several possibilities.…”

“…It is thus plausible that the association detected in this study between ED and HZ may proceed through the serious local inflammation caused by HZ infection at the spinal level. 23 Our study stands out as being able to investigate the association between ED and HZ by using a populationbased epidemiological study which left little room for selection and non-response biases. The strengths of this study also included the availability of a wide-range of sociodemographic data which allowed us to control for confounding and generalize our results to the Taiwanese population as a whole which largely shares a similar sociocultural background.…”

“…Severe local inflammation at the spinal level during HZ episodes may contribute to a patient's subsequent ED. 23 The VZV generally impacts the dorsal root ganglia and moves down sensory nerves to the skin, expanding into the adjacent spinal cord, and even leading to motor paralysis when anterior horn gray cells are influenced. 14 In terms of the HZ patient with ED reported by Rix et al, the S3 and S4 segments were Notes: OR Z odds ratio; OR was calculated by conditional logistic regression which was conditioned on age group.…”

Acute Urinary Retention Following Primary VaricellaZoster Virus Infection

“…11 Re-activation within sensory ganglia results in a painful dermatomal zoster rash where as signs of re-activation within the autonomic sacral ganglia includes urinary retention, zoster cystitis, or anorectal dysfunction. [10][11][12] Previous literatures suggested that men are more commonly affected by herpes zoster with bladder involvement than women. 13 Voiding dysfunction is defined as poor coordination between the bladder muscle and urethra.…”

Urinary Retention, Erectile Dysfunction and Meningitis due to Sacral Herpes Zoster: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

“…Despite the many reports stating urinary retention secondary to sacral herpes zoster, there are few reports on erectile dysfunction [29,30] and meningitis [31] accompanying sacral herpes zoster. Also, abdominal distension due to the loss of anal reflex has not been reported previously.…”