1 | CASE PRESENTATION
A 2.5 kg male baby was born via cesarean section to a 25-year-old
female, Gravida 5 Para 3, at 37 weeks of gestation.
The parents are maternal first cousins who have only one healthy female
child, and a prior history of a female baby who was diagnosed with
harlequin ichthyosis.
At the time of birth, the entire
body of the baby was covered with armor-like scale plates with deep
fissures that split the scales. The hands and feet were covered with
thickened plate-like encasement. Other evident features included
severe bilateral
ectropion, bilateral
eclabium with a fixed-open mouth,
flattening of the nose, rudimentary external ears, partial hair loss on
the scalp and absence of eyelashes and eyebrows [Figure 1 & 2].
Adequate nutrition, broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics, emollients,
fluids and electrolyte were performed.
A dermatology consultation was done, with advice to add Acitretin to the
treatment plan.
Anyway, the baby succumbed on the sixth-day of life without changing his
treatment plan or receiving Acitretin.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of harlequin
ichthyosis to be reported in Syria.