ASW Tong, DCY Lau, LTW Chan

Abstract

Carbamazepine is one of the commonest anticonvulsants that can cause cutaneous adverse drug reactions. The association of HLA-B*1502 allele with carbamazepine-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis has been confirmed by strong evidences. Since 2007, the Food and Drug Administration in the United States recommended genetic testing of HLA-B*1502 allele in patients with ancestry across broad areas of Asia before prescription of carbamazepine. However, HLA-B*1502 allele should not be considered as the only predication marker of Carbamazepine-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome. Other alleles, one of them being HLA-A*3101 allele, are recently being studied on their association with drug allergic events in different populations. We report a ten-year-old Pakistani girl diagnosed to have carbamazepine-induced SJS, who had absence of HLA-B*1502 allele but presence of HLA-A*3101 allele.