Secondary ichthyosis: report of 2 cases.

Two adolescent girls suffering from severe secondary ichthyosis in association with gross protein-energy malnutrition are reported. In one patient, it was sheer advanced malnutrition which appeared to be the cause of ichthyosis. The other subject seemed to have developed reversible gross ichthyosis secondary to severe malnutrition and the accompanying pulmonary tuberculosis. Acquired ichthyosis of such a magnitude as a result of malnutrition as the chief primary disease has not yet been recorded in the English medical literature.