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.