NEUROLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS OF ACQUIRED COBALAMIN DEFICIENCY - CLINICAL ASPECTS

Citation
Dg. Savage et J. Lindenbaum, NEUROLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS OF ACQUIRED COBALAMIN DEFICIENCY - CLINICAL ASPECTS, Bailliere's clinical haematology, 8(3), 1995, pp. 657-678
Citations number
113
Categorie Soggetti
Hematology
ISSN journal
09503536
Volume
8
Issue
3
Year of publication
1995
Pages
657 - 678
Database
ISI
SICI code
0950-3536(1995)8:3<657:NCOACD>2.0.ZU;2-G
Abstract
Cobalamin (Cbl, vitamin B-12) deficiency of the nervous system is a ch ronic progressive disorder characterized by abnormalities of the spina l cord, peripheral nerves, optic nerves and cerebrum. Initial reports of the nervous system disorder in the late nineteenth and early twenti eth centuries emphasized severe spinal cord disease (Lichtheim, 1887; Russell et al, 1900). Later authors attributed the neurological featur es to peripheral neuropathy (Hamilton and Nixon, 1921; Pallis and Lewi s, 1974). Most patients appear to have features consistent with both m yelopathy and peripheral neuropathy (Healton et al, 1991). In this rev iew we will use the term 'Cbl neuropathy' to refer to the neurological complications of Cbl deficiency, including spinal cord, peripheral ne rve and cerebral damage. We believe that Cbl neuropathy better encompa sses the diverse manifestations of Cbl deficiency than other terms, su ch as 'combined systems disease' and 'subacute combined degeneration'.