Vitamin B12 deficiency in northern India tertiary care: Prevalence, risk factors and clinical characteristics

BACKGROUND: Vitamin B12 deficiency leads to a diversity of symptoms and affects many systems. It is often overlooked or sometimes even misdiagnosed in clinical practice. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The purposes of this study were to report the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency, the spectrum of clinical features and to draw attention to the possibility of rare hidden characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a multicenter, retrospective, and prospective conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital and multispecialty hospital. All cases of vitamin B12 deficiency of either sex or age attending the Medicine Department were enrolled in this study from Aug 2015 to Dec 2020. Parenteral vitamin B12 was given, and cases were evaluated for the response on follow-up for more than three months. RESULTS: Of 220 cases, 52.27% were males. Maximum cases were reported from the age group 50 to 65 years (27.27%) and belonged to urban areas (59.1%). The majority were strict vegetarian (86.36%). Among comorbidities, diabetes (20.91%) followed by malabsorption (10.45%) were most common. The cutaneous manifestations were revealed at 38.18%. The most frequent neurological manifestation was paraesthesia (98.18%). Head heaviness/ache was the most frequent (95%) psychiatric manifestation. Anemia was revealed in 87.73% of cases with 88.64% macrocytosis. Axonal sensorimotor (52.63%) neuropathy was a prevalent finding of NCV study. CONCLUSIONS: A high index of clinical suspicion is needed in cases with vague manifestations, especially in the pure vegetarian population. Early recognition can prevent further damage as most of its related disorders are generally reversible with treatment.