The zosteriform distribution of cutaneous lesions is a common disease pattern in dermatology. It describes a unilateral girdle-like distribution restricted to the sensitive nerve territory of a dermatome. Three different pathogenic pathways can lead to a zosteriform pattern. The neural pathway uses the axons of a nerve ganglion for viral transport to a specific dermatome. The arche type is Herpes Zoster (HZ) followed by Zosteriform Herpes Simplex Virus Type (HSV) I infection. The Blaschkoid pathway uses the Blaschko lines that represent embryonic migration patterns, often mimicking a dermatomal distribution, particularly on the trunk. The isotopic pathway defines a dermatosis that exclusively develops on the site of a previously healed HZ eruption.Before a zosteriform eruption, a history of prior HZ guides the diagnosis to the isotopic pathway, mainly represented bygranulomatous reactions followed by, among others, lichen planus, vasculitis and basal cell carcinoma. With no prior history of HZ recent eruptions orientate towards HZ and zosteriform HSV, whereas chronic eruptions should primarily evoke cutaneous metastases, principally from breast, ovary and lung carcinoma.This review summarizes the relevant literature and presents a clinical algorithm for the differential diagnosis of zosteriform dermatoses.Although Herpes Zoster (HZ) is the archetype of a zosteriform dermatosis, a large series of other infectious, neoplastic, inflammatory and miscellaneous dermatoses may also present a zosteriform distribution (Table 1). This paper reviews the three pathogenic mechanisms of the zosteriform pattern and proposes a diagnostic algorithm helping the dermatologist in the differential diagnosis of zosteriform dermatoses.
Materials and methodsA PUBMED search was performed without restriction of publication date using the following keywords: Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV), varicella, herpes zoster, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), herpes simplex, genital herpes, zosteriform, zosteriform dermatoses, segmental, segmental dermatoses, dermatome, dermatomal distribution, isomorphand isotopic dermatoses. This research revealed 220 publications relevant to the subject and included for this review.
PathogenesisCutaneous diseases presenting a zosteriform distribution answer to 3 different pathogenical pathways.