Clinical analysis of vitamin B12 deficiency mainly manifested by recurrent aphthous ulcers

Abstract

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics and treatment experience of Vitamin B12 (VB12) defi⁃ cient patients with recurrent aphthous ulcers (RAU) to improve the clinical efficacy. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 15 cases of recurrent oral ulcers from January 2016 to September 2018. The causes were analyzed ac⁃ cording to the patients’clinical characteristics. Results In total, 15 patients with RAU had no remission after routine immunotherapy. Further clinical examination suggested that vitamin B12 levels were reduced. The erythrocyte mean cor⁃ puscular volume (MCV) was significantly increased, and the average number of red blood cells (RBC) and hemoglobin (Hb) levels were decreased. RAU disappeared after vitamin B12 supplementation. Routine blood work showed that the MCV returned to the normal range, which was statistically significant compared with the pretreatment MCV (P < 0.001). Vitamin B12 serum levels were significantly higher (P < 0.001) than those before treatment. Conclusion When the main manifestation of vitamin B12 deficiency is recurrent oral ulcer symptoms, dentists should examine the lesions care⁃ fully, inquire about the medical history in detail, and perform further serological tests when necessary to avoid the over⁃ use of immunosuppressive drugs for treatment.

Keywords

• Recurrent aphthous ulcers，
• Vitamin B12 deficiency，
• Mean corpuscular volume，
• Hemoglobin，
• Red blood cells，