Statistical analysis of Stevens-Johnson syndrome caused by Mycoplasma pneumonia infection in Japan.

BACKGROUND

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) associated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) infection is mainly observed in children. In adults, drugs are a major cause of SJS, but some adult patients with SJS are infected with M. pneumoniae. We analyzed patients with SJS associated with M. pneumoniae infection to elucidate the differences between drug-induced SJS and M. pneumoniae-associated SJS and also to study differences between M. pneumoniae-associated SJS in children and adults.

METHODS

This is a retrospective review of Japanese patients who have been reported as M. pneumoniae-associated SJS in medical Journals published from 1981 to 2009, compared with data of Japanese patients with drug-induced SJS reported from 2000 to 2009.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight cases of M. pneumoniae-associated SJS and 78 cases of drug-induced SJS were analyzed in this study. Ocular lesions were observed more frequently in M. pneumoniae-associated SJS than in drug-induced SJS (p < 0.01), and adult patients showed a higher ratio of sequelae in their eyes than did patients under 20 years of age (p < 0.01). Sixty-six percent of adult patients with M. pneumoniae-associated SJS developed fever/respiratory symptoms and mucocutaneous lesions on the same day. In contrast, most of the patients under 20 years of age developed fever/respiratory symptoms before mucocutaneous involvement. This means that these adult patients were infected and immunized previously and developed allergic reactions to M. pneumoniae soon after the later infection.

CONCLUSIONS

In order to prevent ocular sequelae in adult patients when M. pneumoniae infection is suspected, more intensive treatment may be needed in adult patients than in younger patients.