[Ocular sequelae and sicca syndrome following Lyell's syndrome]

The mucous lesions are customary in toxic epidermal necrolysis. The acute ocular lesions have led to definitive sequelae. 22 out of 32 patients surviving to a Lyell's syndrome lend themselves to an ophthalmological supervision. 13 of these 22 patients (59 p. 100) presented a sicca syndrome with a decrease of the lacrimal secretion (12 cases) and/or salivary secretion (8 cases). The sicca syndrome appeared sometimes from the beginning of the acute phase of the Lyell's syndrome or more often a few weeks later. This decrease of the lacrimal flux went along with objective corneal lesions among 11 patients, and 6 of them had a change of the visual function. A biopsy of the accessory salivary glands was performed on 7 of these patients having a reduction of the salivary flux. 5 of these 7 biopsies showed lymphocytic infiltrates giving in 2 cases a nodular aspect, grade III of Chisholm's classification, held to be pathognomonic of Sjögren syndrome. The 13 patients having presented a sicca syndrome differed from the other 9 patients (without sicca syndrome) by a higher severity of their Lyell's syndrome and by a higher age. None of our patients with dry syndrome had antinuclear antibody detected by immunofluorescence on sections of rat's livers. Sicca syndromes with sometimes lymphocytic infiltrate similar to those of Sjögren's syndrome were occasionally imputed to drug reactions. The occurrence of "Sjögren like's syndrome" after a toxic epidermal necrolysis suggests the intervening of autoimmune phenomena in the pathogenesis of this toxic epidermal necrolysis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)