Clinical Presentation and Complications of Kwashiorkor

Clinical Features and Complications

• The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that an infant's weight of 6 kg at 8 months is significantly below expected weight for age, indicating failure to thrive 1
• The World Health Organization recommends that vitamin A deficiency, which commonly accompanies protein-energy malnutrition, should be addressed in the treatment of kwashiorkor 1
• The American Academy of Pediatrics states that xerophthalmia (dry eyes) is a known ocular manifestation in severe malnutrition, with a strength of evidence level of II 2
• The absence of bone deformities, frontal bossing, or other skeletal manifestations in an infant with kwashiorkor suggests that atrophic rickets is not a primary feature of the disease, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics 1
• The clinical presentation of kwashiorkor typically includes edema, hepatomegaly, and dermatological changes rather than skeletal abnormalities, as noted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 3