Etiological analysis of vitamin B12 deficiency. Study about 99 cases

Abstract

Deficiency of vitamin B12 (or cobalamin) is common in adults, especially in the elderly. The aim of our study is to establish the etiology of this deficiency, and evaluate their frequency. In this prospective study, 99 patients were referred to our hospital for evaluation of macrocytic anemia. Determination of vitamin B12, folate and homocysteine, an endoscopy and a dietary survey were performed for all patients. The average age of our patients was 53.6 ± 17.6 years (13-88 years) with a sex ratio (M/F) 0.83. Functional anemic syndrome was observed in 89.9% of cases, neurological syndrome in 67.7% of cases and gastrointestinal symptoms in 88.8% of cases. Antibodies anti-intrinsic factor (anti-IF) were positives in 33,3% of patients and anti-gastric parietal cells (anti-GPC) in 85,8% of patients. Endoscopy showed an atrophic gastritis aspect in 21.2% of investigated patients. The diagnosis of pernicious anemia was present in 78 patients (78,8%) with a positive anti-IF for 33 patients. Maldigestion syndrome of vitamin B12 was found in 16 patients (16.2%) and a deficiency was found in 5 patients (5%) according to dietary survey.