Depression presenting as pernicious anaemia
Keywords:
pernicious anaemia, depressive syndrome, atypical depressionAbstract
Pernicious anaemia is an uncommon cause of anaemia, caused by a deficiency of Vitamin
B12. Independent of the aetiology, this deficiency
may produce neurological alterations as well as psychiatric presentations.
The case of a 42-year-old woman with a depressive syndrome, admitted to our department
for severe anaemia, is presented in this article.
Complementary diagnostic tests revealed a pernicious anaemia and treatment with Vitamin B12
was started, which resulted in a progressive improvement of the anaemia and remission of
the depressive features.
Vitamin B12 deficiency may be considered as a possible aetiological factor in the development
of clinical depression, particularly those casesrefractory to medical therapy. Awareness of
this possibility allows an early diagnosis of a Cyanocobalamin deficiency in cases of atypical
refractory depression, avoiding the neurological sequelae.
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