Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Toxic epidermal necrolysis is a severe mucocutaneous reaction pattern characterized by fever, systemic toxicity, tenderness, erythema, and widespread exfoliation. Lyell 1 of Glasgow, Scotland, and Lang and Walker 2 of Cape Town, South Africa, independently described this syndrome in 1956. Lyell was responsible for coining the term “toxic epidermal necrolysis.” Toxic referred to a presumed circulating toxin responsible for producing both the prodrome and the eruption. Epidermal referred to the presence of significant epidermal damage with comparatively slight dermal reaction. Necrolysis was a neologism combining the pathologic finding of necrosis with the clinical finding of epidermolysis. 1,3,4