A Case of Exfoliative Dermatitis of the Newborn (ritter's Disease) Recovery following Treatment with Sulphapyridine By

Leiner (1930), over a period of twenty years, was able to observe only twenty cases of which eighteen were fatal. Yet, when Ritter von Rittershain (1878) first described the disease he based his observations on no fewer than 279 cases. These facts introduce a doubt as to whether or not Ritter's original series was a true clinical entity; that there was some contemporary confusion on this point is emphasized by the controversy as to the nature of this condition which arose between Behrend (1879) and Ritter. Ritter, writing in 1880, was at pains to emphasize his original description of the condition and protested with acerbity against Behrend's confusion of the true acute exfoliative dermatitis of the new-born with pemphigus neonatorum.