title: Follow-up during early infancy of newborns diagnosed with subcutaneous fat necrosis.
abstract: Subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn (ScFN) is an uncommon condition caused by generalized and/or local tissue hypoperfusion. The skin lesions of ScFN tend to improve spontaneously. However, ScFN may also lead to complications which cause serious problems. The severity of the etiologic factors contributing to the development of the disease determines the severity of complications. Therefore, these patients should be closely monitored for complications, especially for hypercalcemia which may be life-threatening. The severity and duration of hypercalcemia are associated with the extensity of skin lesions. We present a newborn who developed ScFN as a result of systemic hypotension. The ScFN resolved after the first few weeks of life, but the patient developed mild hypercalcemia during the 4-month follow-up period. The infant was breast-fed during follow-up, and vitamin D prophylaxis was not initiated. The hypercalcemia resolved within four months without any complications. We would like to draw attention to the need to monitor serum calcium levels in these infants and to refrain from initiating vitamin D prophylaxis in the first months of life.
authors.affiliation: Erciyes University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Kayseri, Turkey. mustafaaliakin@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Mustafa Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Akın
authors.forename: Leyla
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Akın
authors.forename: Dilek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sarıcı
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
authors.forename: Süleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balkanlı
authors.forename: Selim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurtoğlu
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood; D005218:Fat Necrosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006934:Hypercalcemia / Q000209:etiology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium