Incidence of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in Germany

Serious cutaneous adverse reactions such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) 1-4 are well known in patients with the human immunodeficiency virus. 1-3 Based on a few case series with a selected population, prevalence data have been calculated as 1.7% (2/115) 2 and 0.8% (12/1500). 1 Due to the short duration of these diseases, we prefered to evaluate the incidence of SJS/TEN in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which so far has not been reported. Subjects and Methods. The incidence of SJS/TEN in AIDS patients (Centers for Disease Control [Atlanta, Ga]/World Health Organization [Geneva, Switzerland] classification) was calculated for Germany (excluding the former German Democratic Republic) based on the results of the Dokumentationszentrum schwerer Hautreaktionen , a registry for the severe skin reactions erythema exsudativum multiforme majus, SJS, and TEN 5 that covers more than 90% of all SJS/TEN cases, 5 and the AIDS center of