Sweet’s Syndrome, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Sweet’s Syndrome, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases
Sweet’s Syndrome is a rare, benign skin disorder, with a sudden start of fever and painful red, inflamed skin lesions that are infiltrated by neutrophils (a type of white blood cell)
These lesions normally happen on the arms, legs, trunk, face or neck.
More systems of the body can become affected such as:
1. The musculoskeletal system such as inflammation of the joints (arthritis),
2. The eyes such as inflammation of the conjunctiva or the membrane that lines the eyes (conjunctivitis), and
3. The internal organs.
There are 3 main groups of Sweet’s Syndrome:

1. Idiopathic Sweet’s Syndrome:
The syndrome is normally present in adults between the ages 30-60 years
Women are more likely to develop the disorder than men (in a 4:1 ratio)
Idiopathic Sweet’s Syndrome recurs in one-third of the patients
In the majority of involved patients, the disorder happens by itself for no known reason (idiopathic Sweet’s Syndrome)
2. Malignancy-Linked Sweet’s Syndrome:
The skin findings may indicate cancer repeat occurrence or an undiagnosed cancer
Less often, the disorder can be linked with an underlying cancer (malignancy), normally a blood (hematological) cancer such as leukemia
3. Drug-Induced Sweet’s Syndrome:
Persons, who are exposed to certain drugs, may develop the syndrome
The disorder can also happen as a reaction to taking certain medicines, mostly a drug known as granulocyte-colony stimulating factor

Causes
The cause of Idiopathic Sweet’s Syndrome and Malignancy-Associated Sweet’s Syndrome is not known
The drugs linked with Drug-Induced Sweet’s Syndrome are:
1. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)
2. Bortezomib
3. Azacitidine
4. Decitabine
5. Imatinib mesylate
Other times, it happens when the immune system reacts to another disorder:
1. Blood cancer such as leukemia or lymphoma
2. Bowel disease, like ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease
3. Chest infection or strep throat
4. Colon or breast cancer
5. Injury where the rash is, like a needle prick or insect bite

Symptoms
1. Fever (that may be high or moderate), tiredness, headache, aches in the joints, skin sores

a. Idiopathic Sweet’s Syndrome is featured by the rapid onset of painful, red, inflamed skin lesions, infiltrated by neutrophils without inflammation of blood vessels
b. 75-90% of patients with Idiopathic Sweet’s Syndrome and 20% of patients with Malignancy-Associated Sweet’s Syndrome
report an upper respiratory infection before the manifestation of Sweet’s Syndrome

Diagnosis
The doctor might be able to tell that it is Sweet’s Syndrome just by looking at the rash.
Sweet’s Syndrome is linked with these major criteria:
1. Rapid onset of painful skin lesions
2. Skin biopsy reveals histopathologic features of neutrophilic infiltration

Treatment

Sweet's syndrome may go away without treatment.
A treatment of Sweet’s Syndrome may involve:
1. Sweet’s Syndrome is often treated with 4-6 weeks of intravenous, oral or topical corticosteroids, dependent on the extensiveness of the skin findings.
2. The length of treatment is dependent on the disorder
3. Other medicines may be potassium iodide, colchicine, dapsone, and cyclosporine
4. In Malignancy-Linked Sweet’s Syndrome, the treatment of the underlying malignancy may treat the disease
5. In Drug-Induced Sweet’s Syndrome, stopping or temporary cessation of the causative drug may treat the disease
6. Antibiotics may be essential
Treatment of the underlying cancer results in the resolution of symptoms in malignancy-linked Sweet’s Syndrome.
Drug-induced Sweet’s Syndrome symptoms normally disappear after stopping causative drug

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Sweet’s Syndrome
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Aug 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463377819

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Sweet’s Syndrome,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2018 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Sweet’s Syndrome, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What The patient Need to Treat Sweet’s Syndrome)

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Sweet's syndrome

What is Sweet's syndrome?

Sweet’s Syndrome is a rare, benign skin disorder, with a sudden start of fever and painful red, inflamed skin lesions that are infiltrated by neutrophils (a type of white blood cell)

Sweet’s Syndrome is a medical disorder featured by fever and the sudden beginning of a rash, which comprises multiple tender, red or bluish-red bumps or lesions.

These lesions normally happen on the arms, legs, trunk, face or neck.

More systems of the body can become affected such as:

1. The musculoskeletal system such as inflammation of the joints (arthritis),

2. The eyes such as inflammation of the conjunctiva or the membrane that lines the eyes (conjunctivitis), and

3. The internal organs.

There are 3 main groups of Sweet’s Syndrome:

1. Idiopathic Sweet’s Syndrome:

The syndrome is normally present in adults between the ages 30-60 years

Women are more likely to develop the disorder than men (in a 4:1 ratio)

Idiopathic Sweet’s Syndrome recurs in one-third of the patients

In the majority of involved patients, the disorder happens by itself for no known reason (idiopathic Sweet’s Syndrome); this is known as classical Sweet’s Syndrome.

2. Malignancy-Linked Sweet’s Syndrome:

The skin findings may indicate cancer repeat occurrence or an undiagnosed cancer

It is seen with equal frequency in men and women

Less often, the disorder can be linked with an underlying cancer (malignancy), normally a blood (hematological) cancer such as leukemia; this is known as malignancy-linked Sweet’s Syndrome.

3. Drug-Induced Sweet’s Syndrome:

Persons, who are exposed to certain drugs, may develop the syndrome

The disorder can also happen as a reaction to taking certain medicines, mostly a drug known as granulocyte-colony stimulating factor; this is known as drug-induced Sweet’s Syndrome.

Both males and females of all ages are equally involved

The exact cause of classical (idiopathic) and malignancy-linked types of Sweet’s Syndrome is not known, while there are a wide range of medicines that are linked with the drug-induced type

Sweet’s Syndrome is not a frequent skin disorder featured by fever and the presence of inflamed or blistered skin and mucosal lesions.

Neutrophilic dermatoses are auto-inflammatory disorders often linked with systemic disease.

Its main features are fever and painful skin lesions that appear mostly on the arms, neck, head and trunk.

The precise cause