COVID-19 associated anorexia differential diagnosis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Javaria Anwer M.D.[2]

Overview

Anorexia is the loss of appetite and may be due to a number of reasons. It may be associated with other symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea and fever. Anorexia associated with COVID-19 must be differentiated from other diseases such as hepatitis, Ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and Chronic underlying disease-associated anorexia.

Differential Diagnosis

Anorexia associated with COVID-19 must be differentiated from other diseases that cause anorexia such as:[1][2]

Disease Differentiating features
Hepatitis
Crohn's disease
Ulcerative colitis
Chronic underlying disease-associated anorexia
  • Cancer patients have anorexia and are an increased risk of COVID-19 infection itself.
  • High suspicion is required and the patient should be tested for COVID-19 infection if required.


  • To view the differential diagnosis of anorexia click here


References

  1. Occhipinti V, Pastorelli L (May 2020). "Challenges in the Care of IBD Patients During the CoViD-19 Pandemic: Report From a "Red Zone" Area in Northern Italy". Inflamm. Bowel Dis. 26 (6): 793–796. doi:10.1093/ibd/izaa084. PMC 7188155 Check |pmc= value (help). PMID 32314792 Check |pmid= value (help).
  2. Ponnurangam Nagarajan V, Palaniyadi A, Sathyamoorthi M, Sasitharan R, Shuba S, Padur Sivaraman R, Scott JX (2012). "Pleural effusion - An unusual cause". Australas Med J. 5 (7): 369–72. doi:10.4066/AMJ.2012.1024. PMC 3413004. PMID 22905065.