Stevens Johnson Syndrome

Abstract

Stevens Johnson syndrome is a severe, often fatal acute dermatosis, characterized by general malaise, stomatitis, purulent conjunctivitis, and vesiculobullous lesions disseminated over the entire body surface. It is triggered by viral or bacterial infections and, basically, by medications. The case of a 23-year-old female patient is reported. She had a personal pathological history of epilepsy, for which she had been treated with carbamazepine for more or less 21 days. She was admitted to Miguel Enríquez Clinical Surgical Hospital in Havana with a suspected dengue diagnosis due to fever and rash, with worsening of the dermatological symptoms, so she was evaluated in the Dermatology consultation. Given the possibility of being in the presence of Stevens Johnson syndrome, she was indicated to stop medication and to add oral steroids to the treatment, which improved her clinical condition. Hence, the objective of this article was to describe the case due to the importance of always taking this entity into account, in order to make an early diagnosis and timely treatment.