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Toxic epidermal necrolysis successfully treated with cyclosporine. Report of three cases
Author(s) -
Szepietowski Jacek,
Wąsik Feliks,
SzybejkoMachaj Grażyna,
Maj Joanna
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of the european academy of dermatology and venereology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.655
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1468-3083
pISSN - 0926-9959
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3083.1997.tb00260.x
Subject(s) - toxic epidermal necrolysis , medicine , pathogenesis , disease , dermatology , erythroderma , gastroenterology , immunology
Background Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a severe, life‐threatening disease with many similarities to graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD). Although the pathogenesis of TEN is still unclear, it is widely accepted that TEN is an immunologically mediated disease. The treatment of TEN is often unsatisfactory. Cyclosporin was demonstrated to affect the early phase of T‐cell activation and was recently shown to be effective in GVHD. Observations Three cases of TEN were treated with 8–10 mg/kg/day cyclosporine in conjunction with corticosteroids. Cyclosporin therapy was continued for 10–21 days, depending on the severity of the disease. Rapid improvement in skin condition was observed in all patients; skin and mucous lesions healed completely after this treatment. Conclusions Our findings suggest that cyclosporin can have a beneficial effect in TEN, and should he considered as treatment of choice in the early phase of TEN to arrest primary immunopathological processes.