Drug Eruption, Bullous

Image and content excerpted from the VisualDx clinical decision support system.

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ICD-9 Codes

693.0 – Dermatitis due to drugs and medicines taken internally

Synopsis

Medications have been implicated in causing both pemphigus-like (intraepidermal blister) and pemphigoid-like blisters (subepidermal blister). Intraepidermal blisters or pemphigus-like lesions appear as fragile, flaccid blisters frequently associated with erosions. Subepidermal blisters (pemphigoid-like) are tense blisters on an erythematous base. Medications reported to cause pemphigus-like blisters include the following: d-penicillamine, captopril, gold, antibiotics (penicillin, cephalexin, rifampicin), phenylbutazone, phenytoin, levodopa, phenobarbital, piroxicam, progesterone, and propranolol. Pemphigoid-like blisters have been reported with the use of d-penicillamine, antibiotics (penicillins, sulfas), captopril, furosemide, practolol, clonidine, tolbutamide, sulfasalazine, and PUVA.

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