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SELECTED ARTICLES FROM THE RECENT LITERATURE 2008
10/16/2008
Pathology of Morbilliform Drug Eruptions
Summary
The investigators from Mount Sinai in Miami, Florida, studied the histo-pathology of patients with a diagnosis of a drug eruption between the years 2000 and 2005. The majority of cases were morbilliform reactions. Eighty-two percent had an inflammatory infiltrate confined to the superficial dermis. Eighty percent had a perivascular and interstitial pattern of a dermal infiltrate. The cell mixture of the infiltrates were as follows:
- Lymphocytes and eosinophils in 29% of cases.
- Lymphocytes and neutrophils in 10% of cases.
- Lymphocytes, eosinophils, and neutrophils in 21% of cases.
Eosinophils were present in only 50% of cases.
The authors concluded that although the histology of drug eruptions is not entirely specific, there may be several characteristic features including the finding of superficial infiltrates of lymphocytes, eosinophils, and neutrophils combined with interface changes.
Reference
Gerson D, et al. Cutaneous drug eruptions: a 5-year experience. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 2008; 59(6):995-999.
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