Background: Exfoliative erythroderma (EE), (Synonyms: Exfoliative dermatitis, Red man syndrome) is a clinical syndrome characterised by generalised erythema and scale. It is an important cause of functional skin failure and associated high morbidity and variable mortality rates.
Objectives: To study demographics, aetiology, complications and clinical outcomes of exfoliative erythroderma (EE) on patients attending Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
Design: Cross- sectional descriptive study.
Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital, Dermatology Unit.
Subjects: All available medical records on inpatients seen by qualified dermatologists at KNH with generalised erythema and scale from 1996 to 2006.
Main outcome measures: Discharge or death.
Results: Incidence exfoliative erythroderma was documented in 146 out of all 123 admissions (13%) into the dermatology unit from 1996-2006. Demographic mean age was 47 years, M: F ratio was 3:2, 67% had no income and 53% and 30% were residents of Nairobi and adjacent districts respectively. Sixty three percent were due to skin diseases, 23% due to systemic diseases of which 20% were due to HIV/AIDS and 14% due to adverse cutaneous drug reactions. Ninety percent of patients were treated and discharged and 10% died; 50% of whom had dermatoses and 29% due to HIV associated antituberculous drugs.
Conclusions: Exfoliative erythroderma is an important cause of morbidity, admission and mortality in patients attending KNH. Dermatoses and HIV / AIDS were the most frequent causes. The mortality rate was relatively low and attributable to controllable diseases.