American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 17, 27-35, Copyright © 1965 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Kwashiorkor in Egypt

II. Hematologic Aspects (the Occurrence of a Macrocytic Anemia Associated with Low Serum Vitamin E and a Wide Range of Serum Vitamin B₁₂ Levels)

¹ From the United States Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3, Cairo, U.A.R.: the Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University; the Department of Internal Medicine and Nutrition of the American University Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon; the Division of Nutrition, Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; and the Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense, National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

The hematologic aspects of kwashiorkor were studied in thirty-four patients in Cairo, Egypt, U.A.R. Iron deficiency was frequently present. Macrocytic red cell indices were common. Various degrees of megaloblastic changes in the bone marrow were seen in twelve of seventeen patients in whom bone marrow studies were carried out. Serum vitamin E levels were low. Evidence suggesting that vitamin E deficiency may be important in the macrocytic anemia of kwashiorkor is discussed. Serum vitamin B₁₂ levels varied widely. The correlation between megaloblastic abnormalities in marrow and serum vitamin B₁₂ levels was poor.

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