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Clinical features

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

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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.

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