Fulminant hepatitis and myocarditis associated with varicella zoster virus infection in a kidney transplant recipient: a case report

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection can follow a virulent course, leading to possible infection-related mortality in immunocompromised hosts. Visceral disseminated VZV infection is a rare disease with a high mortality rate in immunocompromised patients. We present a case of acute liver failure and acute myocarditis due to visceral disseminated VZV infection in an immunocompromised patient who had recently received kidney transplantation and who subsequently showed dramatic improvement after treatment with intravenous acyclovir and intravenous immunoglobulin. Severe epigastric pain preceded the vesicular skin lesions; therefore, the diagnosis and treatment could have been delayed. Such delays have caused mortality in most previous cases. Therefore, it is necessary to consider visceral disseminated viral infection in the differential diagnosis of immunocompromised patients when multi-organ failure progresses with an unknown cause.