Clinical case of cavernitis — complicated monkeypox infection

The article presents a clinical case of monkeypox (MPOX) infection, a rare acute viral zoonosis until 2022, previously endemic in Africa, but currently recorded worldwide, including Europe and Bulgaria. The clinical case describes a 35-year-old man, healthy before the current disease, hospitalized to urology clinic with a diagnosis of cavernitis-complicated acute balanoposthitis. In the department, surgical treatment of liberatio cordi periglandularis penis was performed. The combination of intoxication syndrome with characteristic elements of pustular rash, initially treated as staphyloderma, served as the basis for infectious disease specialist to assume that the patient had MPOX, which was subsequently confirmed by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, after which the patient was transferred to the infectious disease clinic for isolation and treatment, which included detoxication, antibiotic and analgesic therapy. Upon discharge, the patient observed the quarantine regime until all elements of the rash had completely healed, and one-month follow-up observation after discharge showed no deviations from the norm. Due to the presence of a urogenital complication, cavernitis, a rare for this infection, a multidisciplinary approach was required, including urologists, dermatologists and infectious disease specialists. The surgical, pathogenetic and symptomatic treatment led to the patient complete recovery. Although monkeypox-related urogenital complications are rare, they can occur, which requires increased attention to such atypical disease manifestations. MPOX is a rare viral disease that has attracted the attention of health professionals due to its increasing incidence in countries where it is not typically endemic. The key finding of the current study is the necessity for increased vigilance by professionals of various specialties to rare and emerging infectious diseases such as MPOX to control their spread.