Sudden death in Stevens-Johnson syndrome: a case report

We report a case of a 28-year-old male who died suddenly on the way from his house to the hospital. He was said to have a gurgling sound in this throat followed by a seizure while sleeping at night. His wife tried to wake him up but he never returned to consciousness. She brought him to the hospital where a doctor in the emergency room pronounced him dead upon arrival. The autopsy revealed various types of mucocutaneous lesions, involving conjunctiva, lips, face, trunk and extremities, compatible with Stevens-Johnson syndrome. The eruptions covered only 1-2% of the total body surface area. The internal examination disclosed severe glossitis, epiglottitis and inflammation of the upper respiratory tract with prominent laryngeal edema. The microscopic sections of some skin lesions confirmed the previous diagnosis, and the cause of sudden death was believed to be acute upper airway obstruction which complicated the disease. This is probably the first report of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome resulting in death prior to disease recognition by medical personnel.