Life threatening vitamin B_12 deficiency: will timely screening make a difference?

摘要

While Vit. B12 deficiency is common, with a prevalence of about 15/100 in the elderly, and recommendations for treatment available, detection of deficiency at the pre-clinical stage by appropriate screening does not always take place. Our report is an example of life threatening Vit. B12 deficiency diagnosed at age 56, with the onset of Vit. B12 depletion likely to have begun in the previous decade. Further, the patient had sickle cell trait along with Vit. B12 deficiency, a combination only sporadically reported.