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Werner Kempf, MD; Volker Adams, PhD; Martin Kleinhans, MD; Gunter Burg, MD; Renato G. Panizzon, MD; Gabriella Campadelli-Fiume, PhD; Frank O. Nestle, MD

Arch Dermatol. 1999;135:1070-1072.

Objective  To examine the proposed association between pityriasis rosea and human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7).

Design  A retrospective cross-sectional survey.

Setting  University medical center in Switzerland.

Patients  Thirteen patients with pityriasis rosea and 14 persons with normal skin (control subjects).

Main Outcome Measures  Detection of HHV-7–specific DNA sequences and antigen (85-kd phosphoprotein [pp85]) by nested polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical analysis, respectively.

Results  Human herpesvirus 7 DNA sequences and expression of the HHV-7–specific immunodominant pp85 antigen were found in 1 (8%) of 13 lesional skin biopsy specimens of pityriasis rosea. The prevalence of HHV-7 DNA sequences and antigens is even slightly lower in lesional skin of patients with pityriasis rosea than in clinically and morphologically normal skin of 14 control persons, in 2 of whom (14%) HHV-7 DNA sequences and antigens could be detected.

Conclusion  The low detection rate of HHV-7 DNA sequences and antigens argues strongly against a causative role for HHV-7 in the pathogenesis of pityriasis rosea.

From the Department of Dermatology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland (Drs Kempf, Kleinhans, Burg, Panizzon, and Nestle); the Heart Center, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany (Dr Adams); and the Section of Microbiology and Virology, Department of Experimental Pathology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy (Dr Campadelli-Fiume). Dr Panizzon is now with the Department of Dermatology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland.

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