Sudden worsening of DRESS syndrome on tapering steroid dose with dramatic improvement on N-acetylcysteine and steroid dose escalation

Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) is a serious and life-threatening drug reaction characterized by fever, skin rash, peripheral eosinophilia, presence of atypical lymphocytes in peripheral blood smear, generalized lymphadenopathy and involvement of other body organs. The only agreed-upon therapy for DRESS in literature is withholding the culprit drug. There are no controlled trials on the use of steroids in this condition. Reports on the use of N-acetylcysteine in DRESS are very few. We report here a case of 36 year old female with severe DRESS that deteriorated rapidly upon tapering steroid therapy and dramatically improved on combination of pulse steroid therapy and N-acetylcysteine. This paper suggests that higher doses and gradual tapering of corticosteroid is a wise approach in treating patients with DRESS. It further emphasizes the possible beneficial role of N-acetylcysteine in this condition.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Sudden worsening of DRESS syndrome on tapering steroid dose with dramatic improvement on N-acetylcysteine and steroid dose escalation ; volume:06 ; number:02 ; year:2014 ; pages:101-105 ; Ibnosina journal of medicine and biomedical sciences ; 06, Heft 02 (2014), 101-105

Contributors, Places and Time

• Contributor: Osman, Afaf ; Ibrahim, Wanis ; Khanjar, Izzat ; Abdulla, Nabeel ; Eltahir, Rania ; Alhamoud, Eman

Further information

• DOI: 10.4103/1947-489X.210362
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022100922464055608112
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:33 AM CEST