Rethinking the causes of pain in herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia: the ectopic pacemaker hypothesis

摘要

Introduction:Pain in herpes zoster (HZ) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is traditionally explained in terms of 2 processes: irritable nociceptors in the rash-inflamed skin and, later, deafferentation due to destruction of sensory neurons in one virally infected dorsal root ganglion.