Diagnosis and treatment of essential fatty acid deficiency in man.

Essential fatty acid deficiency was found on four occasions in three adult patients with malabsorption after intestinal resection. Diagnosis was primarily based on the gas chromatographic finding of the abnormal fatty acid 5, 8, 11- (omega9) eicosatrienoic acid in plasma lecithin. None of the patients had received parenteral nutrition with a fat-free source of calories but all had been on a reduced intake of dietary fat at some stage. Treatment with intravenous Intralipid rapidly reversed the abnormal plasma fatty acid pattern and also cleared the rash in the patient wih he most severe deficiency.