STEVEN JOHNSON SYNDROME INDUCED BY CARBAMAZEPINE TREATMENT IN AN EPILEPTIC PATIENT – A CASE REPORT

Objectives: Carbamazepine is most commonly used for the treatment of seizure disorders, neuropathic pain and bipolar disorders. It is associated with adverse effects such as nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, dizziness, head ache, impairement in motor coordination, aplastic anaemia, agranucytosis. Rarely life threatening cutaneous reaction such as stevensjohnson syndrome (SJS) or toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) due to carbamazepine therapy are more common in people with human leukocyte antigen allele HLA-B*1502. Methodology: We report a case of SJS due to carbamazepine therapy in a patient with epilepsy. Results: A 36 years old female patient from rural area was admitted in the dermatology ward in a tertiary care hospital with a chief complaints of fever, blisters, skin peeling, red eyes, painful skin, burning sensation, erythema of lips, throat pain and difficulty of swallowing for 4 days. She had a past medication history of early two month clinical course of carbamazepine for seizures. Conclusion: We high lightening the importance of early diagnosis of this cutaneous adverse reaction may help in adjusting the further therapy so as to avoid the complications. Key words: Carbamazepine, epilepsy, steven jonhson syndrome, cutaneous adverse drug reaction