Huidreacties door geneesmiddelen

- Exact data concerning the incidence of cutaneous drug eruptions are lacking due to underreporting.

- Diagnostics of cutaneous drug eruptions is hampered by the fact that one drug may induce different eruptions while the same cutaneous eruption can be caused by several drugs.

- Important steps in the diagnostics of cutaneous drug eruptions are: suspicion of the drugs as cause of the eruption, precise history-taking with emphasis on medication use and a complete physical examination.

- The ‘golden standard’ in the diagnostics of a drug eruption is the dechallenge-rechallenge procedure, but in severe cutaneous reactions such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis and vasculitis, this procedure can cause severe, sometimes life-threatening reactions.

- Reporting suspected adverse drug reactions to pharmacovigilance centres is important to identify rare drug reactions.