Sight-threatening ocular manifestations of acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis (Sweet's syndrome)

Dermatology. 2014;228(3):193-7. doi: 10.1159/000357729. Epub 2014 Mar 1.

Abstract

Sweet's syndrome is a primarily dermatologic disorder with many features of systemic inflammation. It is generally characterized by a neutrophilic dermatosis in the setting of fever and an elevated white blood cell count. Inflammation has been described to occur in many organ systems including the lung, bone, liver, spleen, brain and eye. Ocular inflammation is a well-known comorbidity that may occur in the setting of Sweet's syndrome, including conjunctivitis, episcleritis, scleritis, iritis and choroiditis, among other forms. In the current article, we have compiled a series of cases that describe three separate patients who demonstrated a rare form of ocular involvement in Sweet's syndrome, retinal vasculitis. The evidence from these three cases and other reports in recent ophthalmologic literature suggest overlapping of ocular manifestations of Sweet's syndrome and the closely related Behçet's disease. It is important to be aware of the sometimes challenging differential between these two disorders and their sight-threatening complications.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Biopsy, Needle
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Middle Aged
  • Ophthalmoscopy / methods
  • Retinal Vasculitis / drug therapy
  • Retinal Vasculitis / etiology*
  • Retinal Vasculitis / pathology
  • Risk Factors
  • Sampling Studies
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Sweet Syndrome / complications*
  • Sweet Syndrome / diagnosis*
  • Sweet Syndrome / drug therapy
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Vision Disorders / diagnosis
  • Vision Disorders / etiology