This is a systematic review (SR) which examined the issue of Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) in adults. Electronic literature surveys were implemented in BVS®, LILACS®, MEDLINE®, SCIELO® and PubMed® databases. Eleven were elected (11) articles published in the historical period from 2007 to 2015, in Portuguese, Spanish and English, with the majority consisting of case studies. Patients described in articles, the average age of 39,42 being the youngest had 22 years and the oldest 61 years old, 53,85% (n=07) were female, 53,85% (n=07) developed SJS and 46,15% (n=06) progressed to Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN), 15,40% (n=02) had epilepsy or AIDS, 23,10% (n=03) consumed antibiotics, 92,30% (n=12) did not come to death. The study demonstrated the complexity and the potential of SJS, with almost half of those have evolved to NET. Therefore, it is of fundamental importance a greater awareness of society to mitigate the SSJ.