[Thrombocytosis and neonatal subcutaneous adiponecrosis]

The authors report three newborns with subcutaneous fat necrosis, that appeared between the 4th and 21st day of life. The infants, full term of normal weight, presented severe perinatal hypoxia and needed primary resuscitation. Severity and duration of perinatal hypoxia were not related with the time of cutaneous lesion onset. Serum calcium levels were in the higher values of the neonatal normal range. Vitamin D levels were within the normal range and only one patient showed a transient elevation of PTH, suggesting a poor relevance of both these factors in determining serum calcium increase. All patients showed a marked increase of platelets number, before the onset of clinical manifestations. Thrombocytosis could play an important role in the pathogenesis of adipose tissue necrosis, causing lower blood perfusion with relative hypoxia and hypothermia.