SCORTEN stands for Severity-of-Illness Score for Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. It is a bedside prognostic score used in Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), SJS/TEN overlap, and TEN to estimate a patient’s risk of death. Each criterion present at admission scores 1 point.

The 7 standard SCORTEN criteria are:

• age > 40 years
• malignancy present
• heart rate > 120/min
• epidermal detachment or involved body surface area > 10%
• serum urea > 10 mmol/L
• serum glucose > 14 mmol/L
• serum bicarbonate < 20 mmol/L.

Higher scores mean higher predicted mortality. The usual mortality bands are:

• 0–1: about 3.2%
• 2: about 12.1%
• 3: about 35.3%
• 4: about 58.3%
• 5 or more: >90%.

In practice, SCORTEN is used to help clinicians judge severity, prognosis, and level of care, but it does not replace full clinical assessment. Reviews and comparative studies still support SCORTEN as a strong mortality prognostic tool in epidermal necrolysis.

A simple way to think about it: the more SCORTEN criteria a patient has, the higher the expected mortality risk.