Foscarnet-induced genital lesions: An overview with a case report


Submitted: 20 May 2018
Accepted: 1 June 2018
Published: 20 June 2018
Abstract Views: 1238
PDF: 562
HTML: 292
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Foscarnet is an important antiviral medication used mainly in the treatment of complicated Herpes-simplex virus and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. Reported first in the 1990’s, genital ulcers are a potential side effect in about 10% of cases. We report the case of a 29 year old man with acute myelogenous leukemia who was on ganciclovir for CMV prophylaxis. Three weeks after being switched to foscarnet because of neutropenia, he developed two, painful symmetric ulcers on the inferior aspect of glans penis. Viral and bacterial cultures were negative. Two weeks after stopping the infusion of foscarnet, the ulcers subsided without any additional treatment. It is important that physicians be aware of this potentially disfiguring side effect of foscarnet so that methods of prevention can be implemented early in the treatment of these patients.

Supporting Agencies

This project was not funded.

Adalsteinsson, J. A., Pan, M., Kaushik, S., & Ungar, J. (2018). Foscarnet-induced genital lesions: An overview with a case report. Dermatology Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/dr.2018.7749

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations