[Fulminant mycoplasma pneumoniae infection presenting with Stevens-Johnson syndrome & respiratory failure].

An 18-year-old man was admitted to Hamamatsu University Hospital on February 15, 1985, with high fever, vesicular and papular rash involving the skin and mouth, conjunctivitis, productive cough and dyspnea. A diagnosis of Stevens-Johnson syndrome was made by skin biopsy, and chest X-ray showed an infiltrate in the right lower lung filed. Despite treatment with corticosteroids and antibiotics, the mucocutaneous lesions did not heal, and the pneumonia progressed to both lung fields. Because the patient had developed dyspnea, a tracheotomy was performed, mechanical ventilatory support was instituted, and high-dose corticosteroid therapy was started. However, jaundice due to intrahepatic cholestasis, hematuria, hematochezia, sepsis, and subcutaneous and mediastinal emphysema ensued, and the patient died of respiratory failure on March 1. Postmortem examination of the lung demonstrated diffuse alveolar damage. The complement-fixation titer for Mycoplasma was 1:64, compared with a level of less than 1:4 on admission. This case was though to be one of fulminant Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection presenting with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, respiratory failure and other extra-pulmonary complications.