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Scurvy: A Disease not to be Forgotten
- Publication Year :
- 2020
-
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.
- Subjects :
- Male
Allergy
medicine.medical_specialty
Malabsorption
Adolescent
030309 nutrition & dietetics
Ecchymosis
scurvy
Medicine (miscellaneous)
vitamin C
Ascorbic Acid
Skin Diseases
Diagnosis, Differential
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
anxiety disorders
Edema
medicine
Humans
0303 health sciences
food allergy
Nutrition and Dietetics
business.industry
Settore MED/09 - MEDICINA INTERNA
Scurvy
medicine.disease
Ascorbic acid
Dermatology
Gingival Hypertrophy
030211 gastroenterology & hepatology
Differential diagnosis
medicine.symptom
business
celiac disease
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....7810979ec2af7724580b0ad7605131e5