Severe pulmonary hypertension in a patient with scurvy: Can a vitamin reverse it?

Abstract

Introduction. Pulmonary hypertension secondary to scurvy is a rare manifestation that historically has not been well studied and is only described in a handful of case reports. Case. Our case is about a 35-year-old female with a history significant for drug and tobacco abuse, obesity, poor diet, anxiety, and major depressive disorder who was found to have severe pulmonary hypertension in the setting of vitamin C deficiency (<0.01 mg/L). Conclusion. We present a case that shows pulmonary hypertension can be associated with scurvy and reversed rapidly with adequate vitamin C supplementation.