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Health Dictionary

Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.

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Eczema differential diagnosis

Introduction

Overview

Overview

Eczema has various mimics with regards to the clinical presentation, severity, and course of disease. A strong clinical evaluation by the physician based on the presenting signs and symptoms is needed to come up with the correct diagnosis. Differential diagnoses of eczema include infectious disease, inflammatory disease, immunodeficiency problem, or a nutritional deficiency.[1]

Differential Diagnosis

Differential Diagnosis

A strong clinical evaluation by the physician based on the presenting signs and symptoms is needed to come up with the correct diagnosis.

  • Table 1 summarizes these medical conditions that can mimic the presentation of eczema, with their corresponding expected time of onset.
 Table 1. Differential Diagnosis of Eczema.[1]
Type Medical Condition Manifestations Expected Time of Presentation
Inflammatory Psoriasis Adolescence to adulthood.
Viral Exanthem Infancy.
Contact Dermatitis Infancy.
Neoplastic Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma Adulthood.
Immunodeficiency Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Infancy.
Netherton syndrome Infancy.
Hyper IgE syndrome Infancy.
DOCK8 Infancy.
Nutritional Deficiency Zinc Infancy to early childhood.
Biotin Infancy to early childhood.
References

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Raveendran R (2019). “Tips and Tricks for Controlling Eczema”. Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 39 (4): 521–533. doi:10.1016/j.iac.2019.07.006. PMID 31563186.

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1], Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Edzel Lorraine Co, DMD, MD[2]