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A retrospective cohort study of infection risk in hospitalized patients evaluated for Sweet syndrome

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Abstract

Sweet syndrome (SS) is divided into malignancy-associated, classical, and drug-induced subtypes. Features associated with SS, such as fevers, neutropenia, and cancer, are also high risk for serious infection. We aimed to describe hospitalized patients with a documented concern for SS on initial dermatologic evaluation, their risk of infection, and the impact of SS subtype on treatment and outcomes. We descriptively analyzed hospitalizations at The Ohio State University evaluated for SS by dermatology and performed a retrospective cohort analysis of malignancy-associated and non-malignancy-associated SS patients. Eighty-seven patient hospitalizations were evaluated for SS from 2012 to 2019. Thirty-one hospitalizations were complicated by neutropenia. Lesions in 12.9% (n = 4/31) of neutropenic hospitalizations were infected with Fusarium species (n = 2) or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (n = 2). One patient with fungal disease died within 30 days of hospitalization. Thirty-three patients were confirmed to have a final diagnosis of SS. In the confirmed SS cohort, malignancy was associated with greater overall dapsone use (p = .021), less initial (p = .046) and overall (p = .013) corticosteroid use, and fewer SS-related readmissions within one year (p = .020) and overall (p = .004). Corticosteroid treatment delay should be considered for a short period in neutropenic patients while excluding infection. Malignancy-associated SS patients were more frequently treated with dapsone and favorable outcomes were seen in cancer patients.

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The datasets generated and/or analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request and pending appropriate institutional approval for data sharing.

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Funding

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA

    M. Ravi & M. Waters

  2. Division of Dermatology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 1328 Dublin Road, Suite 100, Columbus, OH, 43215, USA

    J. Trinidad, C. G. Chung & B. H. Kaffenberger

  3. Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA

    C. G. Chung

Authors
  1. M. Ravi
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  2. M. Waters
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  3. J. Trinidad
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  4. C. G. Chung
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  5. B. H. Kaffenberger
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Contributions

Conceptualization: BK and MR; Data collection: MW and MR; Analysis: MR and BK; Writing—original draft preparation: MR; Writing—review and editing: BK, MW, JT, and CC; Supervision: BK.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. H. Kaffenberger.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Benjamin Kaffenberger is an investigator for AnaptysBio Inc, Biogen, InflaRx, OnQuality Pharmaceuticals, and Eli Lilly Co and is funded by the Dermatology Foundation.

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Reviewed and approved by The Ohio State University IRB Study ID #2020H0276.

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Ravi, M., Waters, M., Trinidad, J. et al. A retrospective cohort study of infection risk in hospitalized patients evaluated for Sweet syndrome. Arch Dermatol Res 314, 967–973 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-021-02318-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-021-02318-8

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