A 35-year-old man develops widespread painful erythema with full-thickness epidermal necrosis and detachment involving 45% BSA, 12 days after starting allopurinol for gout. Nikolsky's sign is positive. The MOST important immediate prognostic scoring tool to guide ICU decision-making is:
- A SCORAD index
- B SCORTEN score ✓
- C DLQI score
- D Psoriasis Area Severity Index
Correct answer: B. SCORTEN score
Explanation
SCORTEN (Severity of Illness Score for Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis) is the validated prognostic tool specifically designed for TEN/SJS-TEN overlap. It incorporates 7 parameters—age, malignancy, tachycardia, initial extent of epidermal detachment, serum urea, serum bicarbonate, and blood glucose—each scoring 1 point. A SCORTEN ≥3 correlates with mortality >35%. SCORAD and PASI are used for atopic eczema and psoriasis respectively; DLQI measures quality of life.
Reference: Neena Khanna Illustrated Synopsis of Dermatology & STD, 6th ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
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