Nagpur: In what could be called as a rare occurrence, a lady gave birth to a Harlequin baby in Lata Mangeshkar Hospital in the wee hours i.e. 12:45 am of June 11, 2016.

While speaking to Nagpur Today, Dr Yash Banait said that this baby was born with a congenital disorder. He claimed that these kinds of disorders occur because of mutation in the genes. This baby was born after a Caesarean operation performed by Dr Prachi Dixit.

He claimed that the baby requires proper moisturization. He said that Petroleum jelly and coconut oil serves good for this moisturization. Nutritional rehabilitation has to be undertaken regularly. Unlike other cases, this baby is not finding any difficulty in breathing.

Dr Banait said that today they will be investigating into the congenital deformities. They will be undertaking a 2D echo investigation to ascertain the cardiac deformities or anomalies if any. The baby is kept under constant observation.

Dr.Yash Banait is working under Unit Head Dr Meenakshi and Head of the Department, Dr Nilofer Mujawar.

Harlequin-type ichthyosis (also known as harlequin baby, harlequin ichthyosis, hyosis fetalis, keratosis diffusa fetalis, harlequin fetus and ichthyosis congenita gravior), is a very rare severe genetic skin disease, which causes thickening of the stratum corneum of the epidermis. It is a type of autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis, which is a heterogeneous group of nonsyndromic disorders of keratinization. The overall incidence of Harlequin ichthyosis is 1 in 300,000 births. At birth, the child’s whole body is encased in an ‘armour’ of thick white plates of skin, separated with deep cracks. In addition, the eyes, ears, penis, and the appendages may be abnormally contracted. Because of resultant cracked skin in locations where normal skin would fold, it is easily pregnable by bacteria and other contaminants, which can result in serious risk of fatal infection. Constant care is required to moisturise and protect the skin. The harlequin-type designation comes from the diamond shape of the scales at birth (resembling the costume of Arlecchino), caused by severe hyperkeratosis. The disease can be diagnosed in the uterus by way of fetal skin biopsy or by morphologic analysis of amniotic fluid cells obtained by amniocentesis. Doctors can now usually recognize common features of the disease through ultrasound, and follow up with 3D ultrasound to diagnose the condition. Ultrasound can reveal abnormal facial features with ectropion, eclabium, short foot length, incurved toes, clenched fists, poor delineation of nostrils, and polyhydramnios.

It is associated with a mutation in the gene for the protein ABCA12