A Clinico-Aetiological Study of Cases of Erythroderma Attending Tertiary Care Hospital in North-East India

Abstract

BACKGROUNDErythroderma is the term used for any inflammatory skin disease that affects more than 90% of the body surface area. 1 It has many underlying causes and finding the aetiology helps in proper management of cases. Aim-To study and analyse the different causes of erythroderma. MATERIALS AND METHODSThe study was performed in Silchar Medical College and Hospital, Silchar, Assam. A total of 30 cases of erythroderma were studied with respect to epidemiological, clinical and histological finding. RESULTSAmong 30 cases, 21 were male and 9 were female patients with male-to-female ratio of 2.3: 1 and mean age of incidence was found to be 53.26% yrs. In our study, the most common aetiology was found to be psoriasis (n= 14, 46.6%), atopic dermatitis (n= 5, 16.6%), drug-induced erythroderma (n= 3, 10%), allergic contact dermatitis (n= 3, 10%), dermatophytosis and pemphigus foliaceus (one case each) and 3 idiopathic cases (10%). CONCLUSIONAlthough clinical presentation of most of the patients was similar, a detailed history, physical examination and histopathological examination helped us to reach most of the diagnosis.