Frequency of Putative Enteric Zoster Diagnosed Using Saliva Samples in Patients With Abdominal Pain: a Prospective Study

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT03862092

Enrollment

Registered

2019-03-05

Start date

2019-04-24

Completion date

2019-12-31

Last updated

2020-09-24

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Abdominal Pain, Zoster With Other Complications

Keywords

varicella zoster virus, enteric zoster, saliva

Brief summary

The aim of this study is to identify the frequency of enteric zoster using salivary varicella zoster virus (VZV) DNA PCR in patients who visit the emergency room due to acute abdominal pain.

Detailed description

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) infects and establishes latency in neurons in the ganglia of the cranial nerve, dorsal root, and enteric ganglia. VZV reactivation in enteric neurons (enteric zoster) can cause nonspecific abdominal pain and/or serious gastrointestinal dysfunction without cutaneous manifestations. Detection of VZV DNA in saliva may be useful for identifying enteric zoster. We evaluated the frequency of putative enteric zoster based on the presence of salivary VZV DNA in patients with acute abdominal pain. Adult patients who visited the emergency room due to moderate to severe acute abdominal pain were prospectively enrolled at a tertiary hospital between May 2019 and November 2019. Abdominopelvic computed tomography (APCT) was performed in all patients. Saliva samples were collected from all studied patients. Enteric zoster was suspected based on the presence of salivary VZV DNA, detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTSalivary VZV-DNA PCR

VZV-DNA PCR of saliva samples

Study design

Allocation

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 79 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Patients aged ≥ 18, and \< 80 years * ER-visited patients with acute abdominal pain * Numerical rating scale (NRS) score ≥ 4 * Unresponsive to gastrointestinal motility drug, antacid

Exclusion criteria

* Unwilling or unable to give informed consent forms * Patients taking antiviral agents * Patients complaining mild abdominal pain (NRS score ≤ 3)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Frequency of enteric zoster in patients with acute abdominal pain	At the time of enrolled.	The frequency of putative enteric zoster in patients with acute abdominal pain regardless of their underlying diseases

Countries

South Korea

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 15, 2026