Abstract

A CASE REPORT ON PHENYTOIN INDUCED STEVENS-JOHNSON SYNDROME

G. Vijay Kumar*, Shaik Reehana and Dr. P. Rajendra Kumar

ABSTRACT

Adverse drug reactions are one of the leading causes of increase in mortality rate among hospitalized patients. These may vary from mild to severe reactions. Five to eight percent of hospitalized patient develop serious adverse drug reaction. However, these may often go undetected and unreported. Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a life-threatening severe adverse mucocutaneous drug reaction that involves the skin and mucous membrane causing excessive necrosis and epidermis detachment. It is generally rare but considered as the medical emergency as it is fatal that is potentially life-threatening. SJS is a drug induced reaction, where the drugs that are believed to be inducing the SJS could be said as: as antiepileptic drugs, antipsychotic drugs, sulfonamide –antibiotics, cephalosporins, aminopenicillins, quinolones. Phenytoin, an antiepileptic drug commonly prescribed medication for seizures was found to be causative of SJS. We here report a case of phenytoin-induced SJS in a 56 years old female patient who developed SJS on the administration of phenytoin that prescribed for her post-operation craniotomy intracranial hemorrhage. because of immediate and early recognition of the SJS and starting the treatment, then the patient was stabilized and got recovered. Thus SJS that increases mortality rate should be considered in patients with SJS which is a result of phenytoin and keep monitoring the patient’s phenytoin serum levels which is crucial to assure the safety and efficacy of phenytoin therapy.

Keywords: Phenytoin, stevens Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, adverse drug reaction, serum level monitoring, medical emergency.