The outcome of Stevens-Johnson syndrome treated with corticosteroids

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) may have considerable morbidity and mortality. Traditional management has been supportive with or without corticosteroids, and we have previously reported our successful experience treating 41 SJS patients with corticosteroids. We now report the outcome of prospectively treating 13 additional patients with SJS with high doses of corticosteroids. Thirteen consecutive patients with SJS were treated with corticosteroids at diagnosis. Their clinical course and outcomes were analyzed. Drug reactions were potential precipitants of SJS in 12 patients. The percent of skin involvement ranged from 30% to 90% with eight patients having greater than 80% involvement. Bullous lesions were seen in two patients. All patients made a complete recovery. Corticosteroid therapy may be lifesaving in these patients; and in our experience, early management of SJS with high dose corticosteroids has been very effective and associated with a full recovery.