A child with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia with features of a collodion membrane.

Collodion membrane is a presenting phenotype common to several disorders, predominantly congenital ichthyoses. Seventy percent of infants born with hypohidrotic (anhidrotic) ectodermal dysplasia are noted by their parents to have significant scaling and peeling. Although dry skin is a frequently reported sign in children with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, only one French study has reported a true collodion membrane at birth. We suspect that scaling with features of collodion membrane is more common in infants than is reflected in the literature, and we describe another such infant, later diagnosed with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia.

Persistent cellulitis in a patient receiving renal dialysis.

Cryptococcus neoformans, an opportunistic fungus, may cause cutaneous disease by dissemination from primary lung infection or, more rarely, by direct cutaneous inoculation. Cellulitis in an immunocompromised host who does not respond to conventional antibacterial therapy should alert the physician to consider other diagnoses, including cryptococcal skin infection.