A 64-year-old man arrived at the clinic with a severely painful rash and skin eruptions that are localized entirely on one side of his body, closely following the dermatome level of spinal nerve C7. The patient was diagnosed with herpes zoster virus. In what structure has the virus most likely proliferated to cause the patient's current condition?
Herpes zoster is a viral disease that remains latent in the dorsal root ganglia of sensory nerves and presents as a painful skin lesion. It is associated only with sensory nerve fibers and has no motor involvement. The only answer choice that is solely responsible for sensory innervation is the dorsal root ganglion.
The sympathetic chain
The dorsal root ganglion of the C7 spinal nerve
The lateral horn of the C7 spinal cord segment
The posterior cutaneous branch of the dorsal primary ramus of C7
Upper Extremity