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
. 2023 May 28;11(6):e7418.
doi: 10.1002/ccr3.7418. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Scurvy: An elusive diagnosis

Michael Pope  1   2 , Joshua Elder  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Scurvy: An elusive diagnosis

Michael Pope et al. Clin Case Rep. .

Abstract

Key clinical message: Scurvy is uncommon in the developed world, and clinical presentation may mimic other pathologic states. A thorough social and dietary history is essential to identifying patients at risk of vitamin C deficiency, which can then be easily treated.

Abstract: Scurvy is a disease of defective collagen synthesis that is characterized by easy bruising, gingival hemorrhages, poor wound healing, fatigue, and arthralgias. It is caused by dietary deficiency of vitamin C. This is the case of a patient with multiple risk factors for malnutrition who was diagnosed with scurvy.

Keywords: ascorbic acid; gingivitis; nutrition; scurvy; vitamin C; vitamin C deficiency.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
An eschar on the left wrist, which patient reported had been present for several weeks, and surrounding purpura are indicative of collagen dysfunction seen in cases of severe vitamin C deficiency.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
A small eschar, soft tissue edema, and purpura in the lower extremities are indicative of collagen dysfunction seen in cases of severe vitamin C deficiency.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. The First Voyage Round the World by Magellan . Translated from the accounts of Pigafetta, and other contemporary writers. Accompanied by original documents, with notes and an introduction, by Lord Stanley of Alderberry. Printed for the Halkyut Society; 1874:65 Digitized in 2011 by the Internet Archive. http://ia600501.us.archive.org/9/items/firstvoyageround00piga/firstvoyag...
    1. Bourne GH. Records in the older literature of tissue changes in scurvy. Proc R Soc Med. 1944;37(9):512‐516. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lind J. A treatise of the scurvy: in three parts, containing an inquiry into the nature, causes, and cure, of that disease, together with a critical and chronological view of what has been published on the subject. Bull World Health Organ Int J Public Health. 2004;82(10):793‐796.
    1. Ververs M, Muriithi JW, Burton A, Burton JW, Lawi AO. Scurvy outbreak among south Sudanese adolescents and young men—Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya, 2017–2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019;68:72‐75. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Narayanan S, Kumar SS, Manguvo A, Friedman E. Current estimates of serum vitamin C and vitamin C deficiency in the United States. Curr Dev Nutr. 2021;5(Suppl 2):1067.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources