Dapsone is a sulfone drug used to treat infectious conditions and also numerous dermatologic diseases. Fixed drug eruption is a distinctive adverse cutaneous reaction associated with the initial administration and subsequent delivery of a specific agent. Areas covered: The authors preformed a literature search using the following keywords: dapsone, fixed drug eruption, and adverse cutaneous drug reaction. Bibliographies were also reviewed for pertinent articles. The results were combed for relevant papers and reviewed. Articles pertaining to dapsone-associated fixed drug eruption were included. Expert commentary: The majority of cases of dapsone-associated fixed drug eruption in the literature come from Africa or India where there is a high prevalence of patients treated for leprosy. Characteristics of these cases are similar to fixed drug eruption described in the western literature, with differences in frequency of multiple versus solitary lesions. Dapsone-associated fixed drug eruption should be considered when reviewing the drug history of a patient with fixed drug eruption. In the case of darker pigmented individuals, multiple fixed drug eruption lesions may be more common. Multiple lesions may mimic Kaposi's sarcoma in human immunodeficiency virus positive patients. Dapsone-associated fixed drug eruption should be considered in the differential diagnosis of multiple hyperpigmented lesions.
Keywords: Dapsone; adverse cutaneous drug reaction; adverse effect; dermatology; drug reaction; fixed drug eruption.