What else do we know about Aplasia Cutis?

Aplasia cutis (sometimes called ‘aplasia cutis congenita’) is a condition where a newborn child is missing skin from certain areas. In about 70% of cases it is a single lesion on the scalp, but sometimes multiple lesions may appear on other parts of the body. They vary in size from 0.5cm to 10cm.

Lesions that involve only the epidermis (upper layers of skin) are shallow and usually heal over with scarring before the child is born. A deeper lesion involving the dermis, subcutaneous tissue, or rarely, the skull may be ulcerated.

Membranous aplasia cutis is the term used when there is an underlying flat, white membrane, which overlies a defect in the skull. It can be associated with a neural cranial tube defect (encephalocoele or meningocoele), which can be demonstrated by ultrasound scan showing misplaced brain tissue outside the skull.