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An apple a day keeps the doctor away: pediatric scurvy case report and mini review

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Abstract

Scurvy is a rare nutritional disorder caused by deficiency of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). It is often under-diagnosed in clinical settings, especially in North America where population statistics are unavailable. However, scurvy is more common than previously thought and appears to be re-emerging in children with developmental delays. Here, we review the pertinent literature and present a case of a previously healthy, 5-year-old, non-verbal boy who presented with multiple, acute, and subacute spontaneous epidural hemorrhages managed by neurosurgical intervention. He remained in hospital for 17 days and was seen in follow-up 3 weeks post-operatively having returned to his neurological baseline. Our case suggests the importance of considering scurvy in patients who have developmental delays and poor nutritional status.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Talia Mia Bitonti

  2. Division of Neurosurgery, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Albert Tu

Authors
  1. Talia Mia Bitonti
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  2. Albert Tu
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Contributions

TMB wrote the main manuscript and extracted highlighted figures.AT edited the main manuscript, and all authors reviewed the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Albert Tu.

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Consent from patient guardians was received on March 11, 2024.

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Bitonti, T.M., Tu, A. An apple a day keeps the doctor away: pediatric scurvy case report and mini review. Childs Nerv Syst (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-024-06454-0

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