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Case Reports
. 2023 May 17;36(7):708-711.
doi: 10.1515/jpem-2023-0129. Print 2023 Jul 26.

Difficult to think about but easy to treat: scurvy

Aynur Küçükçongar Yavaş  1 , Ayşenur Engin Erdal  2 , Ayşegül Neşe Çıtak Kurt  3 , Tuba Kurt  4 , İlknur Cankurt  5 , Özlem Ünal Uzun  6
Affiliations
Case Reports

Difficult to think about but easy to treat: scurvy

Aynur Küçükçongar Yavaş et al. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. .

Abstract

Objectives: Severe vitamin C deficiency, or scurvy, presents as a syndrome of multisystem abnormalities associated with defective collagen synthesis and antioxidative functions. The many clinical features of scurvy lead to frequent misdiagnoses, as they can often point to other diseases, such as vasculitis, venous thrombosis and musculoskeletal disorders. As such, an extensive workup is recommended in cases in which scurvy is suspected.

Case presentation: A 21-month-old male patient and a 36-month-old female patient presented with difficulty in walking, painful joint movements, irritability, gingival hypertrophy and bleeding. After exhaustive investigations and risky invasive procedures, vitamin C deficiency was diagnosed in both cases, and the symptoms improved dramatically with vitamin C treatment.

Conclusions: The importance of taking a dietary history in pediatric patients is highly recommended. In cases where scurvy is considered, serum ascorbic acid levels should be checked to confirm the diagnosis prior to conducting invasive tests.

Keywords: gingival hypertrophy; scurvy; vitamin c.

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