Pernicious anemia

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Megaloblastic anemia - view of red blood cells

Pernicious anemia

Alternative Names:

Macrocytic achylic anemia; Congenital pernicious anemia; Juvenile pernicious anemia; Vitamin B-12 deficiency (malabsorption)

Symptoms:

Many cells in our body need vitamin B-12, including nerve cells and blood cells. Inadequate vitamin B-12 gradually affects sensory and motor nerves, causing neurological problems to develop over time. It is important to know that the neurological effects of vitamin B-12 deficiency may be seen before anemia is diagnosed.

text continues below

The anemia also affects the gastrointestinal system and the cardiovascular system. The following symptoms may indicate pernicious anemia:

shortness of breath
fatigue
pallor
rapid heart rate
loss of appetite
diarrhea
tingling and numbness of hands and feet
sore mouth
unsteady gait, especially in the dark
tongue problems
impaired sense of smell
bleeding gums
positive Babinski's reflex
loss of deep tendon reflexes
personality changes, "megaloblastic madness"

Signs and tests:

Tests that may indicate pernicious anemia include:

CBC results that show low hematocrit and hemoglobin with elevated MCV (low red blood cell count with large-sized red blood cells)
CBC showing low white blood count and low platelets
low reticulocyte count
bone marrow examination (only needed if diagnosis is unclear)
serum LDH
below normal serum vitamin B-12 level
Schilling test
measurement of serum holotranscobalamin II
measurment of methylmalonic acid (MMA)