ISSN:
1432-1076
Keywords:
Vitamin B12
;
Methylmalonic aciduria
;
Newborn screening
;
Cobalamin
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract We describe two asymptomatic newborns with nutritional vitamin B12 deficiency in whom increased urinary methylmalonic acid was detected by routine neonatal screening at 3 weeks of age. Both infants were exclusively breast-fed. One mother suffered from pernicious anaemia, and the other was a strict vegetarian. Both mothers had no clinical or haematological abnormality, aside from a borderline mean corpuscular volume for the vegetarian mother. This report illustrates the early appearance of functional vitamin B12 deficiency in breastfed infants of vitamin B12-depleted mothers. It also demonstrates that urinary methylmalonic acid measurement is a sensitive indicator of tissue vitamin B12 deficiency.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01954389
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