clinical features
Last reviewed 01/2018
The essential features of osteomalacia are those of osteopenia - bone pain, skeletal deformity and fractures.
However, in osteomalacia:
- the disease tends to run an insidious and vague course
- the patient is often ill
- deformities such as a mild kyphosis or knock knees which may have been due to adolescent rickets will often worsen
- unexplained pain in the hip may indicate a stress fracture
- muscle weakness may be marked - usually most noticeable in the quadriceps and glutei, producing a waddling gait and causing difficulty in rising from a chair
There are often signs of underlying disease. Not uncommonly, osteomalacia is discovered incidentally.