Keywords
Anemia; Psychomotor delay; Vegan mothers; Vitamin B12 deficiency
Abstract
Vitamin B 12 has important consequences for hematopoiesis and the central nervous system, its deficiency leads to clinical hematological, neurological and psychiatric manifestations. We report the case of a ten months old male infant, exclusively breastfed, with a significant delay in the developmental and communicative reactions. Physical examination confirmed the pallor, the axial hypotonia and revealed that the child was below the 2nd percentile for weight and the 3rd percentile for length. He had a hemoglobin level of 6.4g/dL with an MCV of 100.2fL, His serum vitamin B12 level was less than 50pg/mL and serum folate level 20.4ng/mL. No intrinsic factor antibodies were found. Hormonal and nutritional screening revealed no other deficiency. Thalassemia screening resulted negative. Maternal investigations showed anemia and maternal vitamin B12 deficiency. The research for anti-parietal antibodies of the stomach returns very positive. Vitamin B12 supplementation permitted with weight gain and rapid improvement of interactions and muscle tone.
Citation
Saghir S, Meskini T, Ettair S, Erreimi N and Mouane N. Growth Retardation and General Hypotonia Revealing Vitamin B12 Deficiency. SM J Pediatr. 2017; 2(1): 1008.