Herpes esophagitis: a cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in an immunocompetent patient.

Herpes esophagitis presents as dysphagia and odynophagia in the majority of cases. Rarely has hematemesis been reported. We report a case of herpes esophagitis presenting with hematemesis in an immunocompetent patient. This 67-year-old man suffered from herpes esophagitis, proven by a panendoscopic examination, with characteristic histological findings. He presented with hematemesis and passage of tarry stools, but was otherwise healthy with normal humoral, cell-mediated immunity and was negative for human immunodeficiency virus antibody. Only supportive treatment was given. He has been well for the past nine months since the initial diagnosis.