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Toxic epidermal necrolysis in a premature infant of 27 weeks' gestational age
Author(s) -
Lohmeier K.,
Megahed M.,
Schulte K.W.,
Stannigel H.,
Mayatepek E.,
Schroten H.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2004.06258.x
Subject(s) - toxic epidermal necrolysis , medicine , sepsis , gestational age , pediatrics , blood culture , klebsiella pneumoniae , neonatal sepsis , antibiotics , pregnancy , dermatology , escherichia coli , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , biochemistry , gene , genetics
Summary Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is very rare in the newborn period. So far, three cases of TEN in newborns have been reported worldwide. We report a premature infant of 27 weeks' gestational age with TEN at 4 weeks of age. Sepsis treated by an antibiotic combination regimen preceding the TEN was a common feature of all four cases. In our patient, coagulase‐negative staphylococci could be identified by blood culture, whereas the previously reported patients suffered from Klebsiella pneumoniae sepsis or Escherichia coli sepsis. Possibly, the uniform association with septic infection in the cases of TEN in the neonatal period might hint at a causal association, thus differentiating it from TEN in older children or adults.