At a Glance Diagnosis of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency is relatively straightforward in long-lasting deficiency, which manifests itself with marked anemia, macrocytosis (mean corpuscular volume [MCV] > 100 fL with ovalocytosis, possibly in conjunction with thrombocytopenia and neutropenia > pancytopenia) neutrophil hypersegmentation (at least 5% of neutrophils with 5 lobes or at least 1% with…
At a Glance With the FDA-mandated folic acid supplementation of many grain products, true folate deficiency is now much less common in the United States. Nutritional folate deficiency can develop quite rapidly and produce subnormal folate levels in a matter of weeks. In some instances, this negative folate balance is transient, such as following acute…
At a Glance In many instances, iron deficiency anemia is an unexpected finding, resulting from routine office visits in which a complete blood count (CBC) is requested. This is especially the case in toddlers and adolescent females. Excessive intake of cow milk in young toddlers is a common cause of iron deficiency, which can be…
