Which condition is characterized by unilateral dorsal root ganglion inflammation with vesicular skin lesions?

Which condition is characterized by unilateral dorsal root ganglion inflammation with vesicular skin lesions?

• A. Epilepsy
• B. Migraine
• C. Essential tremor
• D. Herpes zoster

Answer: (D)

A reactivation of varicella-zoster virus in a dorsal root ganglion causing inflammation and a painful vesicular rash in a single dermatome on one side. This is the hallmark of herpes zoster (shingles). The virus travels along sensory nerves from the affected ganglion to the skin, producing the unilateral, dermatomal vesicles and neuralgia. Other conditions listed don’t fit because epilepsy involves brain-wide seizures, migraine presents with headaches often with nausea or aura but not a vesicular rash along a nerve distribution, and essential tremor is a movement disorder characterized by tremor rather than a vesicular dermatomal eruption.

A reactivation of varicella-zoster virus in a dorsal root ganglion causing inflammation and a painful vesicular rash in a single dermatome on one side. This is the hallmark of herpes zoster (shingles). The virus travels along sensory nerves from the affected ganglion to the skin, producing the unilateral, dermatomal vesicles and neuralgia.

Other conditions listed don’t fit because epilepsy involves brain-wide seizures, migraine presents with headaches often with nausea or aura but not a vesicular rash along a nerve distribution, and essential tremor is a movement disorder characterized by tremor rather than a vesicular dermatomal eruption.