--- a +++ b/processing/MACCROBAT/25410883.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8 @@ +A 77-year-old woman with dysphagia presented with a two-week history of rash characterized by brown plaques with erythematous borders and overlying thick scales involving the face and a prior percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube site (Fig.1a, c). +No oral or conjunctival involvement was present. +She had been receiving parenteral nutrition for two months following removal of the PEG tube due to infection. +Although the differential diagnosis included drug hypersensitivity, autoimmune disorders and nutritional deficiency, the rash appearance was most consistent with acrodermatitis enteropathica-like eruption secondary to zinc deficiency. +Her serum zinc level was 12 mcg/dL (normal, 55–150 mcg/dL), and the rash resolved within one week of parenteral zinc supplementation (Fig.1b, d). +Zinc is essential for protein synthesis and wound healing. +Acrodermatitis enteropathica presents in infancy as a periorificial desquamative dermatitis, resulting from an autosomal recessive mutation that impairs zinc absorption. A similar syndrome may occur due to nutritional zinc deficiency, and has been reported in the setting of parenteral nutrition that fails to include zinc supplementation; a prompt response to supplementation helps to confirm the diagnosis. +A recent national shortage of parenteral zinc in the United States likely contributed to this patient’s presentation.