Introduction: Early cyclosporine administration is a potentially useful treatment in patients with Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN). However, previous studies have reported conflicting results regarding the survival benefits. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the survival of patients with SJS/TEN according to whether they received early cyclosporine administration.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted using a Japanese national administrative claims database. Data on patients admitted to the hospital with SJS/TEN between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2021, were extracted. Patients with missing data, those discharged within two days of admission, pregnant women, and children aged <16 years were excluded. Patients who received cyclosporine on the day of admission (early cyclosporine group) were compared with those who did not (comparison group). The primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality. Secondary endpoints were 30- and 50-day mortality and length of hospital stay. The effect of early cyclosporine treatment was evaluated after baseline adjustment using doubly robust estimation.
Results: Among 3807 enrolled patients (mean age, 65.5 years; 53.8% women), the early cyclosporine and comparison groups included 115 and 3692 patients, respectively. After adjustment, cyclosporine treatment decreased in-hospital mortality by 6.03% (95% confidence interval (CI), 5.27-6.82%), 30-day mortality by 2.94% (95% CI, 2.43-3.50%), and 50-day mortality by 4.38% (95% CI, 3.70-5.04%), but increased the length of hospital stay by 9.45 days (95% CI, 1.00-20.23 days).
Conclusion: Early cyclosporine administration can improve the survival of patients with SJS/TEN but is associated with a longer hospital stay.
Keywords: cohort studies; cyclosporine; database; stevens–johnson syndrome; toxic epidermal necrolysis.
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