The occurrence of ocular palsies in the course of herpes zoster opthalmicus (HZO) is a rare but severe complication. The oculomotorius nerve is most commonly involved, whereas there are only a few published cases reporting paralysis of the abducens nerve. We describe the case of a 55-year-old woman who developed a sixth nerve palsy a few days after appearance of a painful skin lesions on the right side of her forehead. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was positive for VZV. The patient was treated with intravenous acyclovir. 6 months after initial manifestation, the patient still had a partial palsy of the abducens nerve.
