Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis are rare disorders. To study their recurrence over time, large data sets are needed. This precludes a case-by-case examination of medical records. Dr Stern suggests that erythema multiforme and other less severe conditions may have been miscoded as Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis. A 1995 study by Roujeau et al identified miscoding in 16% of cases. However, in our study we used the most recent version of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes, which clearly differentiates Stevens-Johnson syndrome (code L51.1) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (code L51.2) from various forms of erythema multiforme (codes L51.O, L51.8, L51.9).
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