Background: Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a rare, life-threatening condition caused by certain medications. Keratinocytes affected by TEN have been found to undergo apoptosis mediated by Fas-FasL interactions. Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has been proposed to inhibit this interaction.
Objective: To demonstrate the effectiveness of IVIG therapy in reducing mortality in patients with TEN.
Design: A retrospective analysis of 16 consecutive patients with TEN who were treated with IVIG. The SCORTEN system, a validated predictor of TEN mortality, was used to analyze the data of these patients. Using SCORTEN, we compared the predicted mortality of our patient population with observed mortality.
Setting: Dermatology inpatient unit at a university-affiliated hospital.
Intervention: All 16 patients received IVIG treatment daily for 4 days. Fifteen patients received 1 g/kg per day and 1 patient received 0.4 g/kg per day.
Main outcome measures: For each patient, causes of TEN and other medical problems were documented prior to IVIG therapy, as were the 7 independent SCORTEN risk factors.
Results: One patient died. Based on the SCORTEN system, 5.81 patients were expected to die. These mortality rates were compared using the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) analysis ([Sigma observed deaths/Sigma expected deaths] x 100) to determine the efficacy of this treatment, which showed that patients with TEN treated with IVIG were 83% less likely to die than those not treated with IVIG (SMR = 0.17; 95% confidence interval, 0.0-0.96).
Conclusion: Based on comparison of our observed mortality rate with the SCORTEN-predicted mortality rate, treatment with IVIG significantly decreased mortality in patients with TEN.