Subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn: be aware of hypercalcaemia

Subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn is an uncommon, self-limiting panniculitis that usually occurs in full-term infants as a consequence of perinatal asphyxia. The cutaneous involvement may be associated with metabolic complications such as hypoglycaemia, thrombocytopenia, hypertriglyceridemia, anemia and hypercalcaemia. The delayed onset of hypercalcaemia, 1-6 months after the development of the skin manifestations, imposes a prolonged follow-up to avoid its acute toxic effects on cardiovascular and renal systems and the more durable metastatic calcifications.