Picture of the month: severe zinc deficiency in infancy (acrodermatitis enteropathica-like picture).

摘要

A7-MONTH-OLD BOY HAD A 3-WEEK HIS-tory of nonbloody diarrhea and increasing irritability. The mother reported a perioral and anogenital erythematous rash that first appeared in the third month of life with variable severity but never resolved. In the 4 months prior to admission, various visits to family doctors and hospitals with multiple courses of oral antibiotic treatments and different ointments led only to brief improvements of the skin condition with subsequent relapses. A trial with corticosteroids for suspected psoriasis caused a severe deterioration. The perinatal history was noncontributory: the boy was born at term after an unremarkable pregnancy, was fully breastfed, and developed appropriately along the 75th percen-tile for height and weight.