Congenital scalp defects: aplasia cutis congenita.

The authors discuss the rare lesion of congenital scalp defect, both partial and full thickness. The majority occur in children who are otherwise normal, but a few are seen in children who have many concomitant anomalies. A high percentage of the multiple anomaly cases were found to have trisomy 13-15. Etiology of these lesions is not clear, but there seems to be an inherited component. Treatment of otherwise normal children is conservative for the smaller lesions, with excision and primary closure when possible for the larger ones.