title: Universal acquired melanosis: carbon baby.
abstract: We report a 3-year-old boy born with light brown skin that progressively became much darker. The color change was insidious in onset at the age of 3 months, asymptomatic, and progressive involving the entire body surface. Hyperpigmentation may be congenital or acquired, hereditary or nonhereditary, localized or universal, of known or unknown origin. Universal acquired melanosis is a rare form of hyperpigmentation, which has been synonymously referred to as ''carbon baby.''
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Kitasato University School of Medicine, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minami-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. sniiyama@aol.com.
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niiyama
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bando
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Kensei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katsuoka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D017495:Hyperpigmentation / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D000521:alpha-MSH / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000521:alpha-MSH