Protein energy malnutrition differential diagnosis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Omodamola Aje B.Sc, M.D. [2]

Overview

Protein energy malnutrition must be differentiated from other diseases that cause failure to thrive, edema, wasting recurrent infections, skin and hair changes. It is important to also differentiate kwashiorkor from marasmus as the two diseases belong to the protein energy malnutrition.

Differentiating Protein energy malnutrition from other Diseases

Differentiating kwashiorkor from marasmus

Distinguishing Features	Kwashiorkor	Marasmus
Cause	Deficiency of protein in the diet of child	Deficiency of protein as well as energy nutrients (that is carbohydrates and fats) in the diet
Age	Occurs in children in the age group 1-5 years	Typically occurs in children below the age of 1 year
Association	More common in villages where there is small gap period between successive pregnancies	More common in towns and cities where breast-feeding in discontinued quite early
Edema	Presence of edema	Absence of edema
Muscles	Wasting of muscles	Wasting of muscles is quite evident. The child is reduced to skin and bones
Skin changes	Dermatitis and Hyperpigmentation noticed	Dry and atrophic skin but no changes in color
Serum cortisol	Decreased/Normal	Increased
Fasting blood glucose	Decreased	Decreased
Growth retardation	Mildly retarded in growth	Severely retarded in growth
Facial appearance	Moon-like face	Elderly man face
Abdomen	Protuded	Shrunken
Vitamin deficiency	Present	Present
Weight	60-80% of normal weight for age	<60% of normal weight for age

Differential diagnosis of childhood malnutrition

Kwashiorkor
Marasmus
Vitamin A deficiency
Iron deficiency
Iodine deficiency
Congenital heart disease
Dehydration
Sepsis
Shigella and campylobacter

Differential Diagnosis of fever and rash.

Disease	Cause	Typical Season	Typical Age	Prodrome	Fever	Duration of the rash (days)	Rash	Other Signs & Symptoms
Roseola Infantum (exanthem subitum)	Human herpes virus type 6	Any season	6 months to 2 years	None	High	1-2; it follows defervescence	Discrete erythematous macules, rarely involves face, begins as fever ends	Lymphadenopathy, irritability
Measles	Paramyxovirus Measles virus	Winter - Spring	1 to 20 years	2-4 days of cough, conjunctivitis, and coryza	High	5 - 6	Erythematous, irregular size, maculopapular; starts on temples and behind ears; progresses down from face; fades to brownish	Koplik's spots: C blue-white papules (salt grains) on bright red mucosa opposite premolar teeth
Rubella	Togavirus	Spring	7 months to 29 years	0 - 4 days; mild malaise, fever; absent in children	Low grade	1 - 3	Discrete, rose-pink, diffuse, maculopapular; progresses downward from face, may change quickly	Arthralgia (usually in adults), tender posterior cervical and suboccipital lymphadenopathy, malaise, petechiae on soft palate
Erythema Infectiosum (Fifth Disease)	Human parvovirus type B19	Spring	5 - 10 years	None, usually in children, may occur in adults	None to low-grade	2 - 4	Starts as “slapped cheek”, maculopapular; progresses to reticular (lacy) pattern; can recur with environmental changes such as sunlight exposure	Arthralgia/arthritis in adults, adenopathy
Infectious Mononucleosis	Epstein-Barr Virus	None	10 - 30 years	2 - 5 days of malaise and fatigue	Low to high	2 - 7	Trunk and proximal extremities. Rash common if Ampicillin given	Pharyngitis, lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, malaise
Kawasaki disease	Unknown	Winter - Spring	< 5 years	3 days of abrupt fever	High; fever of 5 days is a diagnostic criteria	5 - 7	Erythematous, morbilliform, maculopapular or scarlatiniform, central distribution; erythematous, indurated palms and soles	Acute: dry, fissured and injected lips, strawberry tongue; irritability; cervical lymphadenopathy; conjunctival injection; peripheral edema; Subacute: finger-tip desquamation; Complications: arthritis, carditis
Scarlet Fever	ß-hemolytic streptococci	Winter	> 2 years	0 - 6 day, marked	Low to high	2 - 7	Scarlet "sunburn" with punctate papules "sandpaper", circumoral pallor, increased intensity in skin folds, blanches stars face/head, upper trunk and progresses downward	Sore throat, exudative tonsillitis, vomiting, abdominal pain, lmphadenopathy, white then red strawberry tongue
Enterovirus	Echovirus Coxsackie virus	Summer - Fall	Mainly childhood	0 - 1 day fever and myalias	Low to high	1 - 5	Fine, pink, always affects face; variant is Boston exanthem (large ~ 1 cm, discrete maculopapules)	Sore throat, headache, malaise, no lymphadenopathy, gastroenteritis
Dengue Fever	Flavivirus Dengue virus types 1 - 4			None	High	1 - 5	Generalized maculopapular rash after defervescence; spares palms and soles	Headache, myalgia, abdominal pain, pharyngitis, vomiting
Drug induced rash	Many	Any	Any	Possible due to underlying illness	Possible	Varies	Typically diffuse but may be concentrated in diaper area, typically no progression, erythema multiform rash can progress over a few days	Possibly due to underlying illness or complications
Pharyngoconjunctival Fever	Adenovirus types 2, 3, 4, 7, 7a	Winter - Spring	< 5 years		Low to high	3 - 5	Starts on face and spreads down to trunk and extremities	Sore throat, conjunctivitis, headache, anorexia

Table adapted from CDC Pinkbook.