Harlequin colour change: unilateral erythema in a newborn.

نویسندگان

  • Judy Tang
  • James Bergman
  • Joseph M Lam
چکیده

CMAJ • NOVEMBER 23, 2010 • 182(17) © 2010 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors E801 Ahealthy girl was born at term after an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery. When she was five days old, unilateral erythema with contralateral pallor developed that was strikingly demarcated at midline (Figure 1). This phenomenon occurred after the infant had been placed on her right side, with the erythema on the dependent half of her body. It resolved spontaneously within minutes. Harlequin colour change appears transiently in approximately 10% of healthy newborns. This distinctive phenomenon presents as a well-demarcated colour change, with one half of the body displaying erythema and the other half pallor. Usually occurring between two and five days of age, harlequin colour change has been seen as late as three weeks of age. The condition is benign, and the change of colour fades away in 30 seconds to 20 minutes. It may recur when the infant is placed on her or his side. The differential diagnosis includes port-wine stain and nascent hemangioma of infancy. The transient nature of harlequin colour change helps to differentiate it from these other conditions. Although occasionally reported with prematurity, low birthweight, hypoxia, systemic use of prostaglandin E1, or intracranial injury, harlequin colour change is seen most often in healthy neonates. Some authors have speculated that its pathogenesis involves temporary imbalance in the tone of cutaneous blood vessels secondary to hypothalamic immaturity. This benign condition should not be confused with harlequin fetus, a severe and uncommon form of ichthyosis manifesting with large, plate-like scales and fissures over the body. Recognition of harlequin colour change is important, given that parents may be quite alarmed at its striking cutaneous changes. The phenomenon is likely more common than suggested by the literature, in part because of its transience. This article has been peer reviewed.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Harlequin colour change in a newborn with meningitis.

A baby boy born by vacuum extraction at gestation of 36 weeks had a birth weight of 2.84 kg. After 2 days of life he developed respiratory distress and poor skin perfusion, whereupon he was transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in December 2011. Cerebrospinal fluid culture (CSF) grew Streptococcus bovis type 2 i and meningitis was diagnosed. He had an episode of generalised ton...

متن کامل

Harlequin color change in preterm infant

Harlequin phenomenon is a rare event that consists of sudden and transient episodes of demarcated erythema forming on the dependent half of the body of newborns, with pallor of the uppermost half. The infant appears as if a line was drawn on the midline dividing two hemibodies. It occurs preferentially in lateral position. It is most common in term newborns, rare cases were reported in preterm....

متن کامل

Harlequin phenomenon at birth: and she was born with a white stocking...

To cite: Santos SF, Cancella de Abreu MR. BMJ Case Rep Published online: [please include Day Month Year] doi:10.1136/bcr-2015210549 DESCRIPTION We describe the case of a newborn female baby, born at term after an uncomplicated pregnancy and a caesarean section. She had a cephalic presentation and weighed 3820 g at birth. She cried immediately after birth. After 8 min of life, intense pallor app...

متن کامل

Report of a family with a Harlequin newborn from Iran

Harlequin Ichthyosis is a dermal disorder that always lead to an early death after birth. Although the clinical characteristics of this disorder has been described perfectly but the molecular basis of which isn’t clear well. Harlequin fetus is an Autosomal recessive trait and prenatal diagnosis is possible by embryo skin biopsy after fetoscopy. This case was a male newborn who died 4 days after...

متن کامل

Coexisting harlequin and Horner syndromes after high thoracic paravertebral anaesthesia.

A patient undergoing left mastectomy and immediate latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction under combined paravertebral block and general anaesthesia developed transient, well-demarcated, right-sided hemifacial erythema and sweating, and left-sided Horner syndrome postoperatively. This "harlequin" appearance occurs because of a normal or excessive vasodilatory, thermoregulatory response to heat ...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne

دوره 182 17  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2010