Drug-Induced Linear IgA Bullous Dermatosis in a Critically Ill Patient Exposed to Polypharmacy

Abstract

Drug-induced linear IgA bullous dermatosis (DILABD) is typically associated with single-agent triggers, such as vancomycin, but its occurrence in the setting of polypharmacy is poorly understood. We report a 36-year-old female who developed DILABD during intensive care admission following exposure to multiple recognised triggering medications across different drug classes, with histological and immunofluorescence findings confirming the diagnosis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of DILABD arising in the context of such extensive polypharmacy, highlighting the diagnostic challenges in critically ill patients and raising the hypothesis that cumulative or synergistic drug effects may contribute to disease onset. However, this proposed interaction remains theoretical and cannot be established as a causal mechanism from a single case.

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Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{bufton2026druginduced,
  title = {{Drug-Induced Linear IgA Bullous Dermatosis in a Critically Ill Patient Exposed to Polypharmacy}},
  author = {Sarah Bufton and Emmanuel Odega and Rabia Sarfraz and Yasmeen Al-Sadek and Sheena Goyal},
  journal = {Cureus},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.7759/cureus.117739},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.117739},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Drug-Induced Linear IgA Bullous Dermatosis in a Critically Ill Patient Exposed to Polypharmacy
AU  - Sarah Bufton
AU  - Emmanuel Odega
AU  - Rabia Sarfraz
AU  - Yasmeen Al-Sadek
AU  - Sheena Goyal
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/10
JO  - Cureus
DO  - 10.7759/cureus.117739
UR  - https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.117739
AB  - Drug-induced linear IgA bullous dermatosis (DILABD) is typically associated with single-agent triggers, such as vancomycin, but its occurrence in the setting of polypharmacy is poorly understood. We report a 36-year-old female who developed DILABD during intensive care admission following exposure to multiple recognised triggering medications across different drug classes, with histological and immunofluorescence findings confirming the diagnosis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of DILABD arising in the context of such extensive polypharmacy, highlighting the diagnostic challenges in critically ill patients and raising the hypothesis that cumulative or synergistic drug effects may contribute to disease onset. However, this proposed interaction remains theoretical and cannot be established as a causal mechanism from a single case.
SN  - 2168-8184
ER  -

Abstract

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