Eritrodermia: estudo clínico-laboratorial e histopatológico de 170 casos

background - exfoliative dermatitis (erythroderma) is a rare, severe syndrome, frequently of unknown etiology. the hospitalization is required for the initial evaluation and to establish the treatment. objective - to determine the clinical, laboratorial and histologic profile of erythrodermic inpatients at hucff-ufrj. methods - in the period 1990-2007, 170 patients were submitted to complete blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, blood urea, glucose and creatinine, liver function tests, proteinogram, circulating s？？zary cells count, chest x rays and skin biopsy of three areas. results - from 92 male and 78 female aging 30 to 80 years, a preexisting dermatosis was identified in 99 cases (58,23%), reaction to internal drugs in 37 cases (21,77%), t cell cutaneous lymphomas in 18 cases (10,58%); in 16 cases (9,47%), a causative factor could not be disclosed. chills, pruritus, lymphadenopathy, lower limbs edema were the most freqüent signs/symptoms. elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, eosinophilia, leukocytosis, peripheral blood lymphocytosis and anemia were the most common laboratory findings. among the idiopathic cases, two histological patterns were noticed: psoriasiform and inespecific dermatitis. conclusion - the main cause of erythroderma was psoriasis; three simultaneous skin biopsies can enhance the accuracy of the histopathologic diagnosis.