Severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions of Chinese inpatients: a meta-analysis

The rate of severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions is low, and these reactions can result in death or disability. An evidence-based epidemiological study of severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions in China has not been reported.

The aim of this study was to analyze epidemiology and characteristics of severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions of Chinese inpatients during the recent 15 years with meta-analysis.

We retrospectively reviewed Chinese literature reporting severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions and collecting data from 2000 to 2015, which were in accordance with our inclusion criteria. All included data were analyzed with the Launch Open Meta-Analyst software.

Twenty-five articles involving 928 cases with severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions were included. Men to women ratio was 1.14:1. Twenty-one per cent of the patients had drug allergy history. Antibiotics (26.0%), sedative hypnotics and anticonvulsants (21.6%), and antipyretic analgesics (17.1%) were the most common causative drugs. The most frequent clinical subtype was Stevens-Johnson syndrome (50.1%), followed by toxic epidermal necrolysis (25.4%), exfoliative dermatitis (21.0%) and drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome (1.6%). In addition to skin rashes, patients with severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions suffered mostly from fever (73%), and blood routine abnormality (66.7%).

This meta-analysis is limited by its retrospective design and by its methodological variation.

The most common causative drugs were antibiotics and sedative hypnotics and anticonvulsants. Stevens-Johnson syndrome was the most frequent clinical subtype of severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions. In addition to skin rashes, patients with severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions suffered mostly from fever, mucosal lesion, and hematologic abnormalities.