Detection of varicella-zoster virus genome in the vitreous humor from two patients with acute retinal necrosis; lacking or having a PstI cleavage site.

Using polymerase chain reaction, we detected the varicella-zoster virus genome in the vitreous humor of two patients with clinically diagnosed acute retinal necrosis. One of the two cases was thought to be caused by infection with a varicella-zoster virus lacking a PstI cleavage site. We could not find any clinical differences between the two substrains. The presence of a PstI cleavage site on the varicella-zoster virus genome might not be associated with the occurrence of acute retinal necrosis.