The SCORTEN Scale is a severity-of-illness scale with which the severity of certain bullous conditions can be systematically determined. It was originally developed for Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Toxic epidermal necrolysis

Toxic epidermal necrolysis is a rare, life-threatening dermatological condition that is usually induced by a reaction to medications...

, but can be used with burn victims, sufferers of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome

Stevens-Johnson syndrome

Stevens–Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis are two forms of a life-threatening skin condition, in which cell death causes the epidermis to separate from the dermis. The syndrome is thought to be a hypersensitivity complex that affects the skin and the mucous membranes...

, cutaneous drug reactions, or exfoliative wounds. These conditions have in common that they compromise the integrity of the skin and/or mucous membranes.

In the SCORTEN Scale 7 independent risk factors for high mortality are systematically scored, so as to determine the mortality rate

Mortality rate

Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in a population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time...

for that particular patient.

Risk factor	0	1
Age	< 40 years	> 40 years
Associated malignancy	no	yes
Heart rate (beats/min)	<120	>120
Serum BUN (mg/dL)	<27	>27
Detached or compromised body surface	<10%	>10%
Serum bicarbonate (mEq/L)	>20	<20
Serum glucose (mg/dL)	<250	>250

The more risk factors present, the higher the SCORTEN score, and the higher the mortality rate, as shown in the following table.

No of risk factors	Mortality rate
0-1	3.2%
2	12.1%
3	35.3%
4	58.3%
5 or more	>90%

The term "SCORTEN" stands for SCORe of Toxic Epidermal Necrosis.