CUTANEOUS REACTIONS TO DRUGS - A SERIES OF INPATIENTS DURING A 5-YEARPERIOD

We have studied drug eruptions at a single clinic since 1956. The last 5-year series comprises in-patients with drug eruptions during the pe riod 1986-1990. The total number of cases in this series was 135, the most common types being fixed eruption, exanthematous eruption and urt icaria. The causative agent was confirmed with a provocation test in 1 02 cases. The most common groups of causative drugs were antimicrobial agents, anti-pyretic/anti-inflammatory analgesics and drugs acting on the central nervous system. We also present a 35-year series of 1997 cases of drug eruptions, most of them proven with oral provocation. Th e types of drug eruption and the drug groups causing eruptions seem to be the same throughout the 35-year period. As there are no reliable l aboratory methods of examining drug eruptions, oral provocation is the only reliable method in most cases.