Drug-induced skin reactions: a 2-year study

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with adverse cutaneous drug reactions, which occur when a medicinal product results in cutaneous morbidity. METHODS The study included 308 patients who were diagnosed as having an adverse cutaneous drug reaction during the study period (2007-2009). In 84 cases, histopathologic examination of skin biopsies were also performed. RESULTS Patients with drug reactions were found to be more commonly female (63%) than male (37%). Beta-lactam antibiotics were found to be the most frequent cause of adverse cutaneous drug reactions (42.7%), followed by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (16.5%). Acute urticaria was the most common clinical presentation (59.2%) followed by fixed drug eruptions (18.5%), and maculopapular eruptions (14.9%). CONCLUSION Adverse cutaneous drug reactions in our study population were mainly induced by beta-lactam antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The most common forms of cutaneous adverse drug reactions were found to be acute urticaria, fixed drug eruptions, and maculopapular rashes.