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A 9 year follow up of post herpetic neuralgia and predisposing factors in elderly patients following herpes zoster
Journal of Infection, 10/12/09

McKendrick MW et al. – Long term pain in the elderly following zoster is associated with identifiable characteristics during the acute illness.

• Late follow up of patients originally admitted with acute zoster to a double blind randomised placebo controlled study of oral acyclovir over 60years of age.

• 158 of the 298 patients from the original study were available for evaluation at a mean follow up of 9years.
• Thirty four (21%) described experiencing pain from the zoster within the previous 12 months.
• Pain at follow up was associated with characteristics at the time of acute zoster of: moderate or severe acute pain, prodromal pain >72h before rash, severity of rash and female gender.
• There was no association between pain at 9 year follow up and use of placebo or aciclovir nor with the presence or absence of pain at the point of discharge from the original study.
• Further analysis of 17 of the 34 patients with long term pain who have full data available, the median pain score was 4 out of 10 and more than 50% described persistent pain and interference with sleep.

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