- 2025, Volume 83 - Number 4
- Published: September 10, 2025
Etanercept associated with pulse therapy with corticosteroids in toxic epidermal necrolysis: case report
Anelyse Pulner-Agulham 1, Claudio L. Franck 2, Beatriz Alvarez-Mattar 2, Amanda S. Tiodózio 3, Lincoln H. Z. Fabricio 3
1 Department of Medicine, Faculdade Evangélica Mackenzie do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil; 2 Department of Intensive Medicine, Hospital Universitário Evangélico Mackenzie, Faculdade Evangélica Mackenzie do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil; 3 Department of Dermatology, Hospital Universitário Evangélico Mackenzie, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
Anelyse Pulner-Agulham, Claudio L. Franck, Beatriz Alvarez-Mattar, Amanda S. Tiodózio, Lincoln H. Z. Fabricio
La información completa de afiliaciones y autor de correspondencia está disponible en la versión original en PDF.
*Correspondence: Amanda S. Tiodózio, Email not available
Abstract
Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a rare dermatological disease characterized by desquamation of the epidermis on more than 30% of the body surface, which occurs days or weeks after the use of a medication or the causative disease. This report is about a case of TEN related to the use of allopurinol in a 61-year-old female patient admitted to a burn intensive care unit, in which she received multidisciplinary care. There are several treatment options; however, there is no gold standard. In this paper, the patient was treated primarily with corticosteroid pulse therapy, and then, with the administration of etanercept, there was a significant and rapid improvement in the lesions. This drug reduces mortality and reduces the time for re-epithelialization. Although etanercept is a promising treatment, as a monotherapy and in combination therapy, high-level evidence is still needed to support its routine use.
