Scurvy: A New Old Cause of Skeletal Pain in Young Children

Christel Chalouhi; Nayla Nicolas; Nancy Vegas; Soraya Matczak; Houmam El Jurdi; Nathalie Boddaert; Véronique Abadie

doi:10.3389/fped.2020.00008

Scurvy: A New Old Cause of Skeletal Pain in Young Children

Front Pediatr. 2020 Jan 31:8:8. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.00008. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Christel Chalouhi¹, Nayla Nicolas², Nancy Vegas¹, Soraya Matczak^{1

3}, Houmam El Jurdi¹, Nathalie Boddaert^{2

3}, Véronique Abadie^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ General Pediatrics Department, Necker Hospital, Paris, France.
² Pediatric Imaging Unit, Necker Hospital, Paris, France.
³ Université de Paris - Faculté de Médecine Paris Descartes, Paris, France.

Abstract

We report 3 cases of scurvy in children that occurred during a short period (2018) in a general pediatrics unit of a tertiary hospital for children in Paris. All children were around 3 years of age and were admitted for skeletal pain and altered general state, which mimicked infectious or malignant diseases. Their selective diet was not the prominent issue. The diagnosis of scurvy was delayed, after too many unnecessary examinations and medications. Bone imaging findings (X-ray and MRI) were a posteriori considered typical, but lesions were not easily identified as scurvy lesions because scurvy is not well-known by pediatricians and radiologists who should be mindful of this historical diagnosis.

Keywords: ascorbic acid; scurvy; selective diet; skeletal pain; vitamin C.

Publication types

Case Reports