An interesting case of anemia

Abstract

Cobalamin (Vitamin B12) deficiency can result in abnormalities in all cell lines which normalize after cobalamin replacement. Moreover, Andres et al. reported hematological findings in 201 consecutive patients with vitamin B12 deficiency 2. Approximately 10 percent of the patients had life threatening hematological manifestations, including symptomatic pancytopenia (5 percent), "pseudo" thrombotic microangiopathy (2.5 percent), and hemolytic anemia (1.5 percent). A significant proportion of these patients underwent invasive and comprehensive diagnostic panels to rule out other causes of such abnormalities. At times, these patients were misdiagnosed and treated with aggressive measures such as steroids, polyvalent immunoglobulins, and plasmapheresis.