Severe Adams-Oliver Syndrome after Maternal COVID-19 Infection Could Be Another Effect of the SARS-CoV-2 Inflammatory Storm? Case Report

Abstract

Background. Adams-Oliver syndrome is a congenital disease whose main findings are aplasia cutis congenita of the scalp and terminal transverse limb defects. The pathogenesis is unknown, but it is postulated that ischemic events in susceptible tissues cause the lesions in the embryonic period.

Case report. We present a newborn with a severe phenotype of Adams-Oliver syndrome. The infant’s mother had a SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first trimester of pregnancy. Prenatal ultrasound indicates a probable worsening of the disease after the first trimester.

Conclusion. This study shows a previously unpublished severe AOS phenotype in a term newborn. There are some signs that the disease could have progressed beyond the first trimester, either spontaneously or by the inflammatory mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords:

• Adams-Oliver syndrome
• COVID-19 infection
• ultrasound
• prenatal diagnosis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.