Relapsing hemorrhagic varicella

Abstract

A 15 year old boy with a past history of chickenpox in infancy was complicated by lethal varicella during the course of chemotherapy against recurrent acute myeloblastic leukemia. He had received allo-bone marrow transplantation and had overcome a graft-versus-host disease. The skin eruptions were hemorrhagic and progressive during the last 3 weeks, with numerous intranuclear inclusions histologically confirmed in the involved epidermis, hair follicles and endothelial cells. Immunohistochemical and electron microscopic studies confirmed the infection of varicella-zoster virus.