SCLEREMA NEONATORUM SUCCESSFULLY TREATED WITH CORTICOTROPIN (ACTH)

SCLEREMA neonatorum is a diffuse hardening of the subcutaneous tissues occurring in undernourished, debilitated full-term and premature infants.¹ In an excellent review of the literature Hughes and Hammond² have summarized the significant findings of this condition as follows:

(1) Average age of onset was 4 days with extremes from birth to 70 days; (2) 25 per cent of the mothers were ill at the time of delivery; (3) all but two deliveries were spontaneous; (4) average birth weight was 2,800 Gm. with variations from 2,150 to 4,100 Gm.; (5) the majority of infants exhibited abnormal behavior at birth, weakness and cyanosis being the most common symptoms; (6) almost all children had difficulty with body temperature control and evidences of other complications besides sclerema; (7) 75 per cent died, with the average age of death 12 days; (8) eleven infants were autopsied, thickening of connective tissue bands being the