TY - JOUR T1 - CHronic cutaneous herpes simplex AU - Shneidman DW, Barr RJ, Graham JH Y1 - 1979/02/09 N1 - 10.1001/jama.1979.03290320034026 JO - JAMA SP - 592 EP - 594 VL - 241 IS - 6 N2 - CHRONIC cutaneous herpes simplex is a distinctive clinical presentation of the herpes simplex virus (HSV) in a compromised host. This infection can be defined as chronically active destructive skin lesions that potentially may progress into the disseminated (systemic) form.1 While most HSV infections display episodes that show healing in one or two weeks, the lesions of chronic cutaneous herpes simplex have an indolent course that may last for several months.Report of a Case  A 68-year-old woman had a four-month history of progressively increasing perirectal pain with slight bleeding. During this period, she lost 5 kg and experienced intermittent fevers up to 38.8 °C at irregular intervals. At the time of admission she appeared thin but was in no acute distress. Physical examination findings were remarkable only for a confluent perianal ulceration that extended from the anus to approximately 10 cm onto both buttocks (Fig 1). The ulcer exhibited SN - 0098-7484 M3 - doi: 10.1001/jama.1979.03290320034026 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1979.03290320034026 ER -