The histopathology of drug rashes

Current Diagnostic Pathology

Volumn 5, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 138-149

  Stevens, A ^a   Dalziel, K ^a  

^a University Hospital NHS Trust   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33750813087     PISSN: 09686053     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0968-6053(98)80022-7     Document Type: Article

References (18)

1. Litt J Z, Pawlak W A Jr. Drug Eruption Reference Manual 1997; The Parthenon Publishing Group. This is a most valuable reference for drug reactions in skin. Pages 469-476 give a brief outline of the clinical manifestations, but with minimal histology. The bulk of the book is a list of drugs, with the skin rashes which have been described in each, and references to papers relating to each. In our experience, the references are largely clinical, with minimal histological description.
2. Breathnach S M, Hinter H. Adverse Drug Reactions in the Skin 1992; Blackwell Scientific Publications. Chapter 2 is devoted to what is known of the mechanisms involved in drug reactions in the skin, Chapter 3 gives a good account of the various clinical patterns, and Chapters 4-19 deal with specific drugs and their reactions. The book is extensively illustrated with colour photographs, including occasional histology. However, there is no detailed treatment of the histopathology.
3. McKee P H. Pathology of the Skin 2nd Edition 1996; Times Mirror International Publishers Ltd. An excellent highly illustrated textbook of dermatopathology, with clinical photographs and photomicrographs of histology, useful for the histology of the idiopathic skin disease. There is no separate section on drug-induced lesions of the skin, but occasional comments on drug-related equivalents are sometimes helpful.
4. Weedon D. The Skin. Volume 9 of Systemic Pathology 3rd Ed 1992; Churchill Livingstone. Chapter 20 is devoted to cutaneous drug reactions. It gives a brief background to the pathogenesis of some reactions, and an outline of the most frequent patterns. There is no specific histological description of the drug rash, but there are internal cross-references to the pages in the book which deal with the idiopathic lesion.
5. Ackerman A B. Histologie Diagnosis of Inflammatory Skin Diseases, 2nd Ed 1997; Williams and Wilkins. Pages 317-328 briefly cover a few of the features, including some hints on distinguishing the drug-induced lesion from its spontaneous counterpart. Much of the text concentrates on fixed drug eruption, but some top quality colour photomicrographs of histological features are valuable.
6. Millard L G. Cutaneous Drug Reactions. Glaxo Laboratories Ltd. A useful illustrated booklet produced by a drug company, and therefore of doubtful availability. It is written from the clinician's standpoint, but contains a few mentions of histology. PAPERS ON SPECIFIC RASHES Lichen planus and lichcnoid dermatitis Graham-Brown R. Lichen planus and lichen planus-like reactions. Br J Hosp Med 1986; 36: 281-284.
7. Dupont C. How common is drug-induced lichen planus? Int J Dermatol 1987; 26: 199-200.
8. Almeyda J, Levantine A. Drug reactions XVI. Lichenoid Drug Eruptions. Br J Dermatol 1971; 85: 604-607.
9. Van den Haute V, Antoine J L, Lachapelle J M. Histopathological discriminant criteria between lichenoid drug eruption and idiopathic lichen planus: retrospective study on selected samples. Dermatologica 1989; 179: 10-13.
10. Psoriasiform eruptions Abel E A, Dicicco L M, Orenberg E K et al. Drugs in exacerbation of psoriasis. J Am Acad Dermatol 1986; 15: 1007-1022.
11. Urticarial eruptions Levantine A J, Almeyda J. Cutaneous reactions to food and drug additives. Br J Dermatol 1977; 91: 359-362.
12. Simon R A. Adverse reactions to drug additives. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1984; 74: 623-630.
13. Champion R H, Greaves M W, Kobza Black A (eds). The Urticarias 1985; Edinburg: Churchill Livingstone, 1985. Erythema multiforme and related conditions
14. Rzany B, Hering O, Mockenhaupt M, Schröder W, Goerttler E, Ring J, Schöpf E. Histopathological and epidemiological characteristics of patients with erythema exudativum multiforme major, StevensJohnson Syndrome, and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Br J Dermatol 1996, 135:6-11.
15. Bastujigarin S, Rzany B, Stern R S, Shear N H, Naldi L, Roujeau J C. Clinical classification of cases of toxic epidermal necrolysis, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and erythema multiforme. Arch Dermatol 1993, 129: 92-96.
16. Lyell A. Drug-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis. I. An overview. Clin dermatol 1993; 11:491-492.
17. Roujeau J C. Drug-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis. II. Current aspects. Clin Dermatol 1993; 11: 493-500.
18. Wolkenstein P, Roujeau J C, Epidemiology of toxic epidermal necrolysis. European Journal of Dermatology 1994; 4: 175-180. . Hindsen M, Christensen O B, Gruic V, Lofberg H. Fixed drug