Diagnostic errors and treatment of anemia caused by vitamin B₁₂ deficiency

This work was carried out in real clinical practice. Five clinical observations of anemia caused by vitamin B₁₂ deficiency are presented, which demonstrate the difficulties of differential diagnosis. Differential diagnosis of B₁₂‑deficiency anemia is carried out with folate deficiency anemia, hemolytic anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, acute leukemia – erythromyelosis, aplastic anemia, myelocarcinomatosis, anemia due to copper deficiency. The relevance of the clinical problem is determined by the fact that B₁₂‑deficiency anemia is one of the common anemias, the frequency of its detection varies in different age groups: after 60 years, vitamin B₁₂ deficiency is found in one in 50 people, after 70 years – in every 15th. Currently, an increasingly common cause of megaloblastic anemia is vitamin B₁₂ deficiency, which occurs while taking certain medications. Vitamin deficiency leads to a wide range of various disorders, primarily the occurrence of neurological manifestations, while there is insufficient awareness of clinicians about causes of its occurrence, nonspecific manifestations, diagnostic methods and effective therapy.