Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2021 Nov 19;8(11):1063.
doi: 10.3390/children8111063.

Lamotrigine Induced DRESS Syndrome in a Child: A Case Report and Literature Review

Chien-Heng Lin  1   2 , Sheng-Shing Lin  3 , Syuan-Yu Hong  3 , Chieh-Ho Chen  1 , I-Ching Chou  3   4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Lamotrigine Induced DRESS Syndrome in a Child: A Case Report and Literature Review

Chien-Heng Lin et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Lamotrigine is an important anticonvulsant drug. Its use, however, has been limited by the risk of potentially life-threatening dermatological reactions, such as a drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS). Here, we report the case of a 7-year-6-month-old girl with a history of epilepsy who developed a skin rash with dyspnoea after 2 weeks of lamotrigine treatment, with DRESS ultimately being diagnosed. After discontinuation of the offending drug and the initiation of systemic glucocorticosteroids, the DRESS symptoms were relieved and the patient was discharged in a stable condition. Anticonvulsant drugs such as lamotrigine are among the factors that induce DRESS in children. When a patient displays skin rash and systemic organ involvement following the initiation of an anticonvulsant drug, DRESS should not be overlooked as a diagnosis, and immunosuppressant drugs should be considered as an option for treating DRESS patients.

Keywords: DRESS syndrome; dyspnea; lamotrigine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scattered red maculopapular rash on the trunk and limbs, partially pressed to fade and partially fused into patches.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bocquet H., Bagot M., Roujeau J.C. Drug induced pseudolymphoma and drug hypersensitivity syndrome (drug rush with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms-DRESS) Semin. Cutan. Med. Surg. 1996;15:250–257. doi: 10.1016/S1085-5629(96)80038-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Saida S., Yoshida A., Tanaka R., Abe J., Hamahata K., Okumura M., Momoi T. A case of drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome-like symptoms following HHV-6 encephalopathy. Allergol. Int. 2015;59:83–86. doi: 10.2332/allergolint.09-CR-0090. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Shiohara T., Mizukawa Y. Drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome (DiHS)/drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS): An update in 2019. Allergol. Int. 2019;68:301–308. doi: 10.1016/j.alit.2019.03.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Knowles S.R., Shapiro L., Shear N.H. Anticonvulsant hypersensitivity syndrome: Incidence prevention and management. Drug Saf. 1999;21:489–501. doi: 10.2165/00002018-199921060-00005. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hagiya H., Iwamuro M., Tanaka T., Hasegawa K., Hanayama Y., Kimura M., Otsuka F. Reactivation of human herpes virus-6 in the renal tissue of a patient with drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome/drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DIHS/DRESS) Intern. Med. 2016;55:1769–1774. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.55.6287. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources