DOI: 10.12890/2019_001045

Pernicious Anaemia with Normal Vitamin B12

Authors

  • Joao Galaz Tavares Medicine Department, Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Bernardo Baptista Medicine Department, Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Bebiana Gonçalves Medicine Department, Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Alexandra Bayão Horta Medicine Department, Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal

joao.ttavares@hospitaldaluz.pt

Keywords

Anti-intrinsic factor antibodies, myelodysplastic syndrome, pernicious anaemia, vitamin B12 deficiency, spuriously normal vitamin B12

Abstract

A 49-year-old female patient presented to our hospital with asthenia, odynophagia, low grade fever, worsening symptoms of chronic depression, and symmetric leg paresthesias. Investigations showed macrocytic anaemia, leucopenia, thrombocytopenia, high lactate dehydrogenase levels and a normal Coombs test. Trilineage dysplasia was detected in the bone marrow biopsy specimen. The diagnostic work-up led us to the diagnosis of pernicious anaemia with a spuriously normal value of vitamin B12 and high titres of anti-intrinsic factor autoantibodies. This case highlights the importance of considering vitamin B12 deficiency in the differential diagnosis of myelodysplasia, even when vitamin B12 levels seem to be normal.

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Published

2019-02-18

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2019)

How to Cite

1.
Tavares JG, Baptista B, Gonçalves B, Horta AB. Pernicious Anaemia with Normal Vitamin B12. EJCRIM [Internet]. 2019 Feb. 18 [cited 2026 Nov. 3];6(2). Available from: https://ejcrim.com/index.php/ejcrim/article/view/1045

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