In-hospital mortality in a dermatology department

Abstract

Background: Far from popular belief making dermatological conditions benign and harmless, we know that some dermatoses may be life-threatening. The aim of our study was to evaluate the overall mortality resulting from dermatological disorders in our department because of the rarity of similar studies. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational study on all patients who died in the Ibn Sina Hospital of Rabat between January 2017 and December 2021 (a period of five years), after they were initially admitted to the dermatology department. Results: Among 1731 patients hospitalized during this period, 45 died, corresponding to an average of 2.6%. The male-to-female ratio was 1.9 and the mean age at death was 63.2 years. The mean number of comorbidities per patient was 1.2, dominated by diabetes. The reasons for hospitalization were as follows: twenty-three cases of extensive bullous dermatoses (60.5% of the cases), four cases of severe toxidermia (10.5%), three cases of erythroderma (7.8%), one case of acro-lentiginous melanoma, one case of squamous cell carcinoma, and one case of pyoderma gangrenosum. In twenty patients (52.6%), the cause of death was directly related to the dermatosis. In sixteen, the cause of death was septic shock of cutaneous origin. Sixteen patients (42.1%) died of causes unrelated to dermatosis. Conclusion: This study showed that life-threatening dermatoses are not uncommon. Among these conditions, autoimmune bullous dermatoses and severe toxidermia, such as TEN and DRESS syndrome, were found to be the most lethal. An advanced age, a surface area of skin involvement, mucosal involvement, associated comorbidities, and the development of sepsis may be considered poor prognostic factors.