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Subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn

    Editor: unassigned

    Clinical Features:

    • Indurated erythematous or violaceous nodules of unknown etiology appearing in the first few weeks of life
    • Affects full-term or post-term infants.
    • Usually spontaneously resolve within a few months
    • Occasionally complicated by hypercalcemia that can cause extensive calcification

    Histologic Features:

    • Characteristic radial arrays of needle-shaped clefts (dissolved triglyceride crystals) within macrophages and adipocytes
    • Patchy fat necrosis
    • Mixed inflammatory infiltrate, both septal and lobular

    External Links:

    Differential Diagnosis (also link to): 

    Cases associated with this book:

  • Subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn
    Author: Artur Zembowicz M.D. Ph.D.

    Conference: DermatopathologyConsultations.com Teaching Collection