The Harlequin Foetus

Harlequin foetus.

Harlequin ichthyosis (or harlequin fetus)

The pat ient was a female neonate bor n prematurely on 36 weeks of gestation by normal vaginal delivery. During pregnancy, mother had no history of fever, drug use or x-ray exposure. The mother was gravida 2 and had no history of abortion. Her first baby was well. On physical examination, the skin was markedly thickened, hard and hyperkeratotic with deep crevices running transversely and vertic...

Harlequin Syndrome

The Modern Greek Foetus

Writing from the vantage point of the America of Bush and Bill Frist, in which the banning not only of abortion but also of many forms of contraception seems a distinct possibility, it is refreshing to read about a place where abortion rights are not imminently under threat. One might think that such a place would be considered a bastion of rational ‘modernity’ when compared with the embrace of...

Transplacental bleeding from the foetus.

The suggestion that the foetus can become severely anaemic from haemorrhage into the maternal circulation was first made by Wiener (1948). A case reported by Wickster (1952) was almost certainly due to such a haemorrhage. However, neither Wiener nor Wickster made confirmatory laboratory tests, and it was Chown (1954, 1955) who first proved, both serologically and by showing excess of alkali-res...