In the United States, a baby boy was born with a spot on his back that gradually turned into a sort of shell of skin. The doctors discovered a rare pathology. What is it about ?
On the southeast coast of the United States, in Florida, a little boy named James McCallum was born, on August 19, 2021, with what looked like a simple birth mark on the back. James’ parents had no idea then what was about to happen. After the birth of their son, the birthmark has turned into a large shell of skin covering the majority of the child’s back. This lump of skin earned little James the nickname “little ninja turtle”, in other words “little ninja turtle”. But what is it?
A rare pathology that affects 1 in 20,000 babies
Very quickly, Kaitlyn and Tim McCallum, James’ parents realized something was wrong. Over time, the birthmark changed in appearance. “It looked like a birthmark, but with crusts in places.(…) It covered 75% of his back“, entrusted the mother of the child to South West News Service. The spot continued to grow and formed like a large, bulky mole. It was then that the parents of little James decided to seek the advice of a doctor.
Several consultations and medical examinations were carried out until the diagnosis was made: little James has a large congenital melanocytic nevus. It corresponds to “a pigmented skin lesion consisting of melanocytes (pigment cells present in the skin, editor’s note)” and who has a “high risk of malignant transformation”according to site specialized in rare diseases Orpha.net. A rare pathology that would affect 1 in 20,000 newbornsespecially girls.
A long treatment to remove the baby’s shell
The doctors who followed James McCallum removed most of the mass on his back thanks to two surgeriescarried out in February and May 2022. Before this growth of skin was removed, the shell had become disabling for the child. “It had become like a turtle shell on his backto the point where we had to lay it on its side because he couldn’t put his head flat because it was so bulky“, said the mother of the family. Tests were then carried out on the recovered pieces of skin, “and they came back negative for the diseases, which was great,” explained the mother.
For fear that the nevus might come back one day, the little boy’s parents decided to embark on a long treatmentthis time to make a tissue expansionwhich involves growing new, healthy skin on the child’s back. “The expanders are placed under the skin by the doctor, then they are injected with saline once a week and this slowly dilates the good skin which replaces the nevus”, detailed Kaitlyn McCallum. According to the mother of the family, the first tests were a success: “He’s so much happier and more comfortable, and we’ll be happy to have it all gone by summer.” Little James should ultimately only have a few scars on his back.