The drug Dilantin can be a godsend for an epileptic. However, the drug has been linked to a potentially life-threatening complication called Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) or the Dilantin rash.

Dilantin is a type of drug designed to treat several types of seizures. The drug is considered a step above older drugs, which tended to leave a patient seriously sedated. The healthcare community considers the drug indispensible. In fact, the World Health Organization considers the drug a basic staple of any functioning healthcare system. However, a subset of patients may experience a dangerous autoimmune reaction called SJS, which starts with a Dilantin rash.

A Dilantin rash is the first symptom of SJS. In SJS, the body’s immune system goes haywire, and begins attacking the skin as it would an invading germ. It starts with flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, and generalized muscle aches as the immune system kicks into high gear.

Hours or days later, the patient develops and actual Dilantin rash on the skin, which rapidly escalates to blisters, sores and ulcers. In particularly serious cases, the damage can spread to the eyes and the surface of the internal organs. It can take weeks for the reaction to stop, and months, if not years for a person’s skin to heal from SJS.

However, in many cases, the damage may be permanent. Survivors may face debilitating scarring, blindness due to eye damage, and impaired organ function for the remainder of their lives. Depending on the severity of the reaction, the mortality rate can range from 5 percent to 40 percent.

The most serious cases of SJS can escalate to Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. TEN is the most deadly form of SJS. In this form of the disorder, patches of the skin die and slough off, leaving burn-like wounds. In fact, the damage so closely resembles thermal burns that intensive care physicians often treat the disorder in their burn wards.

SJS is a relatively rare condition. It is known that the reaction is almost always triggered by various medications, including Dilantin. However, it is very difficult to predict who exactly will develop a reaction like the Dilantin rash.