FATAL POLYCYTHEMIA FOLLOWING PERNICIOUS ANEMIA TREATED WITH VITAMIN B_12

Abstract

A patient who had been treated with liver extract for 3 years for classic pernicious anemia, developed fatal polycythemia 6 months after vitamin Bl2 therapy was instituted for relapse. Hematocrit at death was 79%. Death was caused by extensive cerebral hemorrhage. There was no pathologic evidence of myelogenous leukemia in spite of marked leukocytosis. The occurrence in the same patient of pernicious anemia and polycythemia was considered coincidental.