Hydrops foetalis successfully treated by exchange transfusion.

Cases of Rhesus incompatibility resulting in the condition known as hydrops foetalis do badly. Mollison and Cutbush (1954) state 'it is doubtful if infants born with ascites ever survive', and it is difficult to find any record of survival. Heilig, Tudor, Smith and Platou (1948) report two cases of hydrops, one of which survived with a hemiplegia. Van Loghem, van Bolhuis, Soeters and Veeneklaas (1949) describe, among 160 cases of erythroblastosis foetalis treated with exchange transfusion, four infants with hydrops. Three of these died but the fourth survived. This child, however, had no ascites, only oedema of the umbilical cord, hands and feet. The following case is probably unusual, but worth reporting because of the initial hopeless prognosis and the ensuing remarkable recovery.