Anhydrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia – A Cause of Prolonged Fever in Infant

Ectodermal dysplasia is a group of conditions characterized by abnormal development of ectodermal tissues including the skin, hair, teeth and sweat glands. Anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (Christ-Siemens-Touraine Syndrome) is only one of this large and heterogenous group, but is the most frequent. An inability to sweat (anhidrosis) can lead to high body temperature (hyperthermia), because the body cannot cool itself by evaporating sweat. The authors present the diagnostic difficulties in an infant with this condition, in which prolonged fever was the dominant symptom.