Harlequin ichthyosis: A medico legal case report & review of literature with peculiar findings in autopsy.

Ichthyosis fetalis or Harlequin ichthyosis is an extremely severe and fatal hereditary skin disorder with an autosomal recessive inheritance. It is distinctive because of its remarkable clinical appearance which includes epidermal keratinization, hypoplasia of fingers or nails, malformation of ear and nose and incompatibility with life. This report describes a case of Harlequin ichthyosis along with detailed autopsy findings, which manifested the suspended animation in the early hours after delivery and showing a peculiar malformation of the cerebral hemispheres. To the best of the knowledge, this may be the first report of Harlequin ichthyosis in the forensic literature describing mal development of cerebral hemispheres and suspended animation in a case of Harlequin Ichthyosis.