An HIV-Infected Man with Odynophagia and Rash
August 2005
in “
Clinical Infectious Diseases
”
TLDR The man's symptoms improved after treating his scurvy with high-dose vitamin C.
A 2005 case study described an HIV-infected man diagnosed with scurvy, indicated by a low serum ascorbic acid level of 0.1 mg/dL. The patient presented with odynophagia, rash, leg edema, and purpura, which resolved after a week of high-dose ascorbic acid treatment. The skin biopsy showed minimal hyperkeratosis and extravasated blood in the dermis. The patient's condition was complicated by esophagitis with strictures and pancytopenia due to alcohol abuse, liver disease, and HIV infection. Scurvy, rare in developed countries, was linked to malnutrition and alcoholism, leading to defective collagen formation and characteristic histopathological changes.
