Gastric bypass is a common cause of vitamin B12 deficiency. It can lead to patients presenting with symptoms of anemia. The body has significant reserves of vitamin B12 and loses vitamin B12 slowly. The following case is of a patient who underwent a gastric bypass five years ago and whose hemoglobin (Hgb) dropped from 12.2 g/dL to 4.4 g/dL over six months due to questionable adherence to vitamin supplements. Further work-up showed hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia due to a very low vitamin B12 level of 47 pg/mL, with his blood counts improving with vitamin B12 supplementation. The case points to the importance of thinking about vitamin deficiency as a cause of hemolysis to avoid unnecessary procedures.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.