Utility of the Severity-of-Illness Score for Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (SCORTEN) in Pediatric Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Patients

Abstract

Abstract The Severity-of-Illness Score for Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (SCORTEN) is a system that predicts in-hospital mortality for Stevens-Johnson Syndrome/Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (SJS/TEN). The system is widely utilized in adults but not in pediatrics. We aim to determine the accuracy of the SCORTEN in pediatrics. A retrospective review of pediatric patients admitted to a verified pediatric burn center with SJS/TEN from 2008 to 2022 was performed. Twenty-four patients were analyzed. Ten patients had 0-1 SCORTEN risk factor, 13 had 2 risk factors, and 1 had 3 risk factors. There was no relationship between initial blood urea nitrogen, bicarbonate, glucose, or initial heart rate on the length of an intensive care unit (ICU) stay or ventilator days. Hospital length of stay and feeding tube days were positively related (P < .001) along with length of stay and maximum total body surface areas (P < .05). Hospital length of stay, ICU length of stay, and ventilator days were not statistically significant between those having 0-1 and 2 risk factors. This study suggests that the SCORTEN system is not useful for pediatrics and a different scoring system is needed, as SCORTEN overestimates mortality and does not have a relationship to outcome measures.