Relationship between VAS Score and Neurophysiological Sensory Nerve Function in Herpes Zoster Patients

摘要

This study was performed to evaluate peripheral nerve functions in patients with herpes zoster (HZ) using current perception thresholds (CPT) and thermal thresholds (TT) and to compare the visual analogue scale (VAS) scores and peripheral nerve functions. In this study, there were no significant relationships between CPT or TT at affected der-matome and VAS on the first visit or VAS on the three months after the first visit. The results suggest that the evaluation of sensory dysfunction using CPT and TT is not related to the severity of zoster-associated pain. Despite numerous reports about sensory dysfunction in HZ patients, there is little information available on estimating sensory nerve function quantitatively in herpetic patients. It has been well known that thermal threshold was impaired at the affected dermatome in HZ patients. 1, 2) We previously reported that CPT in the affected dermatome in HZ patients are significant higher than those in unaffected dermatome and CPT and thermal thresholds are useful tools to evaluate impaired neural functions.3,4) Accordingly, the present study was performed to evaluate peripheral nerve functions in patients with HZ using CPT and thermal thresholds (TT) and to compare the VAS scores and peripheral nerve functions.