Diphtheria physical examination
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Dima Nimri, M.D. [2]
Overview
A patient with diptheria usually looks ill, with such systemic signs as fever, tachypnea, and tachycardia. Pharyngeal, respiratory, neurologic, cardiac, and other physical examination findings may be present depending on the extent and severity of the infection.
Physical Examination
Some or all of the following physical findings may be present, depending on the extent of spread and severity of the diphtheria infection:[1][2][3]
| Organ System | Findings |
|---|---|
| General Appearance | Ill-appearing |
| Vital Signs | Fever |
| Tachycardia | |
| Tachypnea | |
| Skin | Ulceration |
| HEENT | Cervical adenopathy |
| Bull neck | |
| Neck edema | |
| Pseudomembranous tonsilloparyngeal exudates | |
| Edema of tonsils and uvula | |
| Rhinorrhea | |
| Lungs | Cough |
| Dyspnea | |
| Hemoptysis | |
| Stridor | |
| Heart | Sinus bradycardia |
| S3 gallop | |
| Arrythmia | |
| Distant heart sounds | |
| Displaced PMI | |
| Neurological | Peripheral neuropathy |
| Cranial Nerve III, IX, X palsies | |
| Paresis or Paralysis |
References
- ↑ Dobie RA, Tobey DN (1979). “Clinical features of diphtheria in the respiratory tract”. JAMA. 242 (20): 2197–201. PMID 490806.
- ↑ Kadirova R, Kartoglu HU, Strebel PM (2000). “Clinical characteristics and management of 676 hospitalized diphtheria cases, Kyrgyz Republic, 1995”. J. Infect. Dis. 181 Suppl 1: S110–5. doi:10.1086/315549. PMID 10657201.
- ↑ Kneen R, Nguyen MD, Solomon T, Pham NG, Parry CM, Nguyen TT, Ha TL, Taylor A, Vo TT, Nguyen TT, Day NP, White NJ (2004). “Clinical features and predictors of diphtheritic cardiomyopathy in Vietnamese children”. Clin. Infect. Dis. 39 (11): 1591–8. doi:10.1086/425305. PMID 15578357.
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