Systemic therapies for Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis: a SCORTEN-based systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The SCORTEN score is a specific predictor of mortality for patients with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS)/toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). There is little evidence in support of the common immunomodulating therapies for SJS/TEN. Objectives: To systematically assess the effectiveness of several therapies for SJS/TEN through the SCORTEN score. Methods: Databases were searched for original studies on the use of SCORTEN. Six meta-analyses were carried out on patients with SJS/TEN who received supportive care only or in combination with immunomodulating drugs: corticosteroids, cyclosporine, etanercept, immunoglobulins or a combination of corticosteroids with immunoglobulins. A multivariate meta-regression and a network meta-analysis were also performed. Results: Of 3893 studies identified, fifty-two involving 2466 patients with SJS/TEN were preselected. Data from thirty-eight of these studies (1827 patients) were finally pooled, and results [log(SMR)] from meta-analyses were as follows: -0.13 (95% CI, -0.42,0.16) for corticosteroids, -0.39 (95% CI, -0.87,0.09) for immunoglobulins, 0.13 (95% CI, -0.15,0.40) for supportive treatment, -0.88 (95% CI, -1.47, -0.29) for cyclosporine, -0.95 (95% CI, -1.82, -0.07) for etanercept and - 0.56 (95% CI, -0.94, -0.19) for immunoglobulins plus corticosteroids. The meta-regression analysis confirmed that cyclosporine and immunoglobulins plus corticosteroids were associated with less deaths than predicted by SCORTEN. In the network meta-analysis, no treatment achieved a significant reduction in the SMR. Limitations: Heterogeneity and quality of the included studies. Conclusions: Some treatments for SJS/TEN show a better performance, but there is not sufficient evidence to recommend its widespread use in all patients.

Automated summary

Some treatments for SJS/TEN demonstrate better performance, such as cyclosporine and the combination of immunoglobulins with corticosteroids. However, there is still insufficient evidence to recommend widespread use in all patients.