Life-threatening dermatoses: Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. Impact on the Spanish public health system (2010-2015)

BACKGROUND: Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) are serious mucocutaneous reactions. In Spain, the epidemiology and resulting expenses of these diseases are not well established. METHODOLOGY: Retrospective descriptive study using the Minimum Basic Data Set (CMBD in Spanish) in patients admitted to hospitals of the National Health System between 2010 and 2015 with a diagnosis of SJS and TEN (combination of ICD-9 codes 695.13, 695.14, and 695.15, along with length of hospital stay). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A total of 1,468 patients were recorded, 773 were men (52.7%). The mean age (± SD) was 52.25 ± 26.15 years. The mean incidence rate for all diagnoses was 5.19 cases per million person-years (2.96 in SJS, 0.31 in SJS/TEN and 1.90 in TEN). 148 patients died (10.1%), 47 due to SJS (5.6%) and 90 (16.7%) due to TEN. The estimated total medical cost of SJS, SJS/TEN, and TEN in Spain was €11.576.456,18, and the average medical cost per patient was €7.885,86 ± €11.686,26, higher medical cost in TEN (€10352.46 ± €16319,93) than in SJS (€6340,05 ± €7078,85) (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Older patients have a more severe clinical picture and higher mortality rates. The overall mortality of both diseases is approximately 10%, and clinical diagnosis and age were the variables with the greatest influence on mortality. This study describes a stable incidence and a similar prevalence to other European countries. Additionally, the data show a high cost due to hospitalizations. Finally, the CMBD could be a good system of epidemiological analysis for the study of infrequent diseases and hospital management of conditions such as SJS and TEN.