Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2021 Oct;36(5):1063-1067.
doi: 10.1002/ncp.10616. Epub 2020 Dec 23.

Scurvy: A Disease not to be Forgotten

Massimo Montalto  1 , Enrica Porceddu  1 , Erika Pero  1 , Andrea Lupascu  1 , Antonella Gallo  1 , Clara De Simone  1 , Eleonora Nucera  1 , Arianna Aruanno  1 , Igor Giarretta  1 , Roberto Pola  1 , Raffaele Landolfi  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Scurvy: A Disease not to be Forgotten

Massimo Montalto et al. Nutr Clin Pract. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

An 18-year-old man presented to our hospital with muscular pain, diffuse petechiae, spontaneous thigh ecchymosis, edema and pain of the right knee, bilateral pretibial subcutaneous nodules, and gingival hypertrophy and hemorrhage. His history was positive for a mixed anxiety-depressive disorder and a restrictive diet caused by self-diagnosed food allergies. Skin lesions appeared like hyperkeratotic papules with coiled hairs and perifollicular hemorrhages. A diagnosis of scurvy was made upon demonstration of low serum levels of ascorbic acid. An allergy evaluation found cross-reactivity between pollens and food, related to the presence of panallergens. Moreover, we found that our patient was also affected by celiac disease. In conclusion, scurvy should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with petechiae and ecchymosis, especially when food restriction, malabsorption, or psychiatric disorders are present.

Keywords: anxiety disorders; celiac disease; food allergy; scurvy; vitamin C.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Magiorkinis E, Beloukas A, Diamantis A. Scurvy: past, present and future. Eur J Intern Med. 2011;22(2):147-152.
    1. Toxqui L, Vaquero MP. Chronic iron deficiency as an emerging risk factor for osteoporosis: a hypothesis. Nutrients. 2015;7(4):2324-2344.
    1. Hirschmann JV, Raugi GJ. Adult scurvy. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1999;41(6):895-906.
    1. Perry ME, Page N, Manthey DE, Zavitz JM. Scurvy: dietary discretion in a developed country. Clin Pract Cases Emerg Med. 2018;2(2):147-150.
    1. Jacob RA, Sotoudeh G. Vitamin C function and status in chronic disease. Nutr Clin Care. 2002;5(2):66-74.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources