The diagnostic perplexity of zosteriform cutaneous metastasis in breast carcinoma

Guneet Awal, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, Punjab, India Pooja Bains, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, Punjab, India Navleen Kaur, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Amritsar, Punjab, India

The word “zosteriform” refers to the dermatomal distribution of lesions which can be present in continuous or interrupted bands of one, two, or more contiguous dermatomes unilaterally. Though the dermatomal involvement is highly characteristic of herpes zoster, all lesions presenting in a dermatomal fashion are not herpetic. Differentials such as zosteriform cutaneous metastasis should be considered especially if a patient has an underlying malignancy. Here we report two such rare cases of zosteriform cutaneous metastasis due to underlying breast carcinoma where the patients were being treated on grounds of herpes zoster due to similarities between both these diseases, but the final diagnosis was inconsistent with that.

Keywords: Zosteriform cutaneous metastasis. Herpes zoster. Breast carcinoma.