Bathing-suit ichthyosis. A peculiar phenotype of lamellar ichthyosis in South African blacks.

Autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis is a heterogeneous group of disorders of cornification showing a wide spectrum of clinical phenotypes.Here, thirteen cases of a so far unreported distinct type of autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis are described. All the skin lesions were present at birth and ten were then compatible with collodion baby. Shedding of the collodion led to an ichthyotic condition with a very characteristic distribution of the lesions which involved the trunk, the most proximal parts of the upper limbs, scalp and neck but spared the central face and extremities. The term "bathing-suit" ichthyosis is suggested for this unusual phenotype of lamellar ichthyosis.