Scurvy: historical review and current diagnostic approach

Abstract

Scurvy, a deficiency of vitamin C, now most often occurs in disadvantaged groups seen frequently in EDs: alcoholics with poor nutrition, the isolated elderly, and the institutionalized. Its prominent clinical features are lethargy; purpuric lesions, especially affecting the legs; myalgia; and, in advancing disease, bleeding from the gums with little provocation. Common misdiagnoses are vasculitis, blood dyscrasias, and ulcerative gingivitis. Untreated, scurvy is inevitably fatal as a result of infection or sudden death. Fortunately, individuals with scurvy, even those with advanced disease, respond favorably to administration of vitamin C.