The terms "lamellar ichthyosis of the newborn" and "collodion baby" have been used to designate a rare congenital abnormality, characterized by a collodion-like membrane, which envelops the infant at birth and frequently causes a weird appearance resembling that of a "harlequin fetus." Another important feature is the evolution into a mild type of ichthyosis, which follows the exfoliation of the horny membrane. This congenital disorder was first reported by Seligman1 in 1841, under the title of "epidermal desquamation of the newborn." Later, Ballantyne2 described it in detail as a "mild type of foetal ichthyosis" and reviewed 33 cases which were reported, until 1895, under many different names. From then until 1955, fifteen more case reports were found by Shelmire.3 In our study of the literature, we found 14 additional reports with a total of 19 cases.
The purpose of this paper is to report another case; to