A Rare Pediatric Case of Cefixime Induced Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Cefixime is a third-generation cephalosporin that has been used for the treatment of a wide range of infections in children and adults. The incidence of cefixime induced toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is less than 2% in adults, but it is infrequent among pediatric patients. We report a rare case of cefixime induced TEN in a 7-year-old boy. In this case, the child presented with symptoms of TEN after 2 days of administration of cefixime. This case highlights the need to select structurally different antibiotics in case of antibiotic-induced severe cutaneous adverse reaction (SCAR) to avoid recurrence of SCAR. Furthermore, concluded that irrational use of antibiotics could be disastrous as it can result in TEN as the incidence of antibiotics induced TEN ranges from 29% to 42%.

Agreement among different scales for causality assessment in drug-induced Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Identification of the offending drug is crucial and challenging in cases of severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADR) like Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). Poor reproducibility and varying levels of agreement have been observed among different causality assessment tools (CATs) in assessing severe CADRs. This study was conducted to examine the agreement among four different CATs in assessing cases of drug-induced SJS, TEN and SJS/TEN overlap.

METHODS

All cases of drug-induced SJS, TEN and SJS/TEN overlap, which were reported between January 2012 and January 2020 were identified from the ADR register at an ADR monitoring center. Causality assessment was done in these reported cases using the following CATs: The World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Centre (WHO-UMC) scale, Naranjo algorithm, Liverpool algorithm and Algorithm of drug causality for epidermal necrolysis (ALDEN). Weighted kappa (κw) test was used to calculate the agreement among four CATs.

RESULTS

A total of 30 cases of drug-induced SJS, TEN and SJS/TEN overlap were included in our analyses. The most common offending group of drugs were anticonvulsants (46.7%), antimicrobials (40%) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (13.3%). Of the anticonvulsants, phenytoin (13.3%), carbamazepine (10%) and valproate (10%) were the commonly reported offending drugs. Poor agreement was observed among the four different causality assessment scales.

CONCLUSION

Discrepancies were observed among four different CATs in assessing drug-induced SJS and TEN. A CAT that is more specific to drug-induced SJS and TEN, simple, user-friendly with limited subjective interpretation, incorporating new immunological and pharmacogenetic markers is necessary.

Quality of Life of Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptom (DRESS) and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and/or Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) Patients

PURPOSE

Drug Reaction With Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptom (DRESS), Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS), and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) are acute hypersensitivity reactions with the potential to reduce the quality of life of exposed individuals. This study aims to determine the quality of life of patients suffering from DRESS, SJS, SJS/TEN.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional approach was used to get the quality of life data from DRESS, SJS, and/or TEN patients at Dr. Sardjito general hospital, Yogyakarta. The utility index and VAS score differences of EQ-5D-5L were analyzed based on the diagnosis.

RESULTS

We recruited 58 patients. Most of the patients were female (63%). The mean value of utility index was 0.61, 0.08 and 0.03 for DRESS, SJS and SJS/TEN patients, respectively (p value <0.01). Furthermore, the mean of VAS score was 73.36, 57.93 and 50.00 for DRESS, SJS and SJS/TEN patients, respectively (p value <0.01).

CONCLUSION

In general, the quality of life of DRESS patients is better than the quality of life of SJS and/or TEN patients.

Severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions manifesting as Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis reported to the national pharmacovigilance center in Nigeria: a database review from 2004 to 2017

Background:

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs). There is scant literature on the characteristics and causes of these conditions among the Nigerian population. Here, we describe the epidemiology, associated morbidity and mortality, and culpable drugs in SJS and TEN cases using the National Pharmacovigilance (NPC) database in Nigeria.

Methods:

A retrospective review of the NPC database was done to analyze SJS and TEN cases reported over a period of 14 years. Annual reports, age and sex of patients, type of reporter, suspects and concomitant drugs, time to onset (TTO) of the reactions, and outcome of SJS and TEN were evaluated.

Results:

The NPC received a total of 24,015 adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports. SJS and TEN accounted for 284 (0.1%) of the total reports, of which 254 (89.4%) were SJS and the remainder were TEN. Females (n = 184, 64.8%) and individuals aged 19–40 years (n = 181, 63.7%) were the most affected by SJS and TEN. Antiretrovirals, followed by antibiotics, were the most common drug classes reported to cause SJS and TEN, with nevirapine (n = 174, 40.7%) and co-trimoxazole (n = 143, 33.5%) being the most widely implicated drugs. Among patients with reported outcomes, 73 (28.7%) SJS and 3 (10.0%) TEN cases recovered without sequelae, at the time of reporting. Severity of the SCAR was reported for only 171 (69.0%) cases, of which 12 (4.7%) and 8 (26.7%) resulted in death (Grade 5) among SJS and TEN cases, respectively.

Conclusions:

Antiretroviral and antibiotics were the commonly reported offending group of drugs for SJS and TEN cases. Nevirapine and co-trimoxazole were the commonly reported suspect drugs. SJS and TEN were reported most frequently in females and in patients aged 19–40 years, indicating that drug surveillance and counseling in these groups of patients may be beneficial.

Aetiopathogenesis of severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) in children: A 9-year experience in a tertiary care paediatric hospital setting

BACKGROUND

Severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) are delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions to drugs including as follows: Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS), Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) and Acute Generalized Exanthematous Pustulosis (AGEP). Incidence, triggers and management of SCARs have not been investigated in large-scale epidemiological studies on children.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of our study was to collect epidemiological, clinical and aetiological data from children with SCARs referred to our tertiary care paediatric hospital of Florence.

METHODS

From 2010 to 2018 charts of children with diagnosis of SCAR were reviewed, and data collected during the acute phase and/or the subsequent allergy evaluation. Patients underwent patch tests, intradermal tests and lymphocyte transformation tests. All children were investigated for infectious diseases.

RESULTS

Incidence of SCARs in hospitalized children was 0.32% over a 9-year period. Fifty-four children were enrolled (31 M; 23 F; median age 6.5 years): 17 cases of DRESS, 30 SJS, 3 TEN, 2 AGEP, 1 linear immunoglobulin A bullous disease (LABD) and 1 pemphigus. Twenty-eight out of 54 patients underwent drug allergy investigations, and 50% of them resulted positive. Combining clinical history and results of allergy work-up, 74% SCARs seem to be caused by drugs, 18.6% by both drugs and infections, 3.7% by infections, and 3.7% remained idiopathic. No deaths occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, SCARs incidence is in line with literature data. Drugs were most commonly the leading cause. Management of SCARs requires cooperation among professional figures for an early diagnosis and a prompt treatment. Mortality rate seems to be lower in children.