title: Toxic epidermal necrolysis. Rapid differentiation between staphylococcal- and drug-induced disease.
abstract: Based on the difference in the level of epidermal split, staphylococcal-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) can be rapidly differentiated from drug-induced TEN. The microscopic pathologic findings of the staphylococcal-induced disease shows epidermal cleavage high in the malpighian layer, while the nonstaphylococcal-induced disease shows a subepidermal split. Rapid differentiation is accomplished by histologically examining a frozen section of peeled skin obtained from a fresh lesion of TEN and by performing a Tzanck preparation on the denuded base. In order to illustrate these techniques, we present the cases of two adult patients with TEN; in one the disease was staphylococcal-induced while in the other it was drug-induced.
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D013262:Stevens-Johnson Syndrome / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*