Medical Student Solves Baby’s Failure to Gain Weight with VisualDx

Divyansh A., a MD-PhD trainer at the University of Pennsylvania, tells the story of how a medical student used VisualDx to figure out what was causing a baby’s failure to thrive (FTT).

“A 7 mo old female baby was brought to the inpatient medicine team with a 4 week history of Failure to Thrive (FTT). Despite adjusting feeds with the help of her outpatient pediatrician, the baby failed to gain adequate weight. Physical exam was unremarkable except for mild alopecia and dry, blistering skin near the neck. After 4 days of workup, we were unable to pin-point a diagnosis that would explain the FTT. Finally, the medical student on the team suggested using VisualDx and reported back during rounds that this skin manifestation looked similar to what is seen in zinc deficiency. He showed us pictures of dermatitis enteropathica on his VisualDx app, and it turns out, the baby had zinc deficiency!”

*Dermatitis enteropathica pictured here is not patient in story. More pictures can be viewed here.