M.C.V. should not be the only criteria to order vitamin B12 for anemia under evaluation

Rohit Jain, Menka Kapil, Gajendra Nath Gupta

Department of Pathology & Transfusion Medicine, Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital, Jaipur, India.

DOI: 10.4236/ojgas.2012.24037                

Abstract

Introduction: A strict vegetarian diet has been associated with increased risk of cobalamin deficiency therefore; one would expect a high prevalence of Cobalamin deficiency in India. Erythrocyte indices have been used in the initial evaluation of anemic patients; high Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) is a traditional criterion for folate and vitamin B12 deficiencies. There is no large study of the prevalence of B12 deficiency among patients with normocytosis or micro-cytosis. Method: We retrospectively analyzed the records of serum vitamin B12 and MCV of both inpatients and outpatients at Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital & Research Institute, Jaipur (Rajasthan) during the period from August 2010-April 2011. The study was aimed at identifying the correlation between vitamin B12 level and MCV; and prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in this region. Result & Conclusion: Every third person is vitamin B12 deficient in the region. There is no correlation between vitamin B12 levels and MCV in majority of the cases. MCV should not be the only criteria for ordering vitamin B12 for patients with anemia under evaluation.

Keywords

Vitamin B12; MCV; Deficiency; Prevalence; Investigation

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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