[Vitamin C measurements in vulnerable populations: 4 cases of scurvy]

Hypovitaminose C, at the origin of the scurvy, did not disappear. We report 4 cases of desocialized patients and whose very unbalanced diet was at the origin of the vitamin deficit. In addition to the hemorrhagic demonstrations described among 4 patients, one finds a modification of the superficial body growths. Physiologically, the vitamin C takes part in the stability of the collagen of the vascular wall and the bone. The biological assessment of the 4 patients was normal apart from the low ascorbemy, a syndrome of denutrition and anaemia related to the haemorrhage. The quality of the vitamin C determination requires to respect the recommended pre-analytical conditions. The treatment quickly effective, consists of an oral administration of ascorbic acid. The evolution for 3 of the 4 described patients was favorable without after-effects. The proportioning of the vitamin C should be more often prescribed in geriatrics, psychiatry and cancerology. It should systematically form part of the biological assessment of the people living alone and/or homelessness.