CLINICAL CASE REPORT Delirium as a result of vitamin B12 deficiency in a vegetarian female patient

K Mavromati and O SentissiVitamin B12 deficiency can manifest with haematological, gastrointestinal and neuropsychiatric signs. The neuropsychiatricsymptoms may be concurrent or precede the other symptoms. The reported case is a clinical case of delirium due to vitaminB12 deficiency in a female vegetarian patient. The patient wastreated with vitamin B12 supplementation. Initially, it wasdifficult to diagnose this patient, who presented with deliriumthatcouldhavebeenduetomultiplecauses.Thefindingunderlines the importance of conducting a complete laboratory test panel for delirium, including the blood levels ofvitamin B12.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 17 July 2013; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2013.128Keywords: delirium; vitamin B12 deficiency; vegetarianINTRODUCTIONVitamin B12 deficiency is a public health problem that affectsB20% of elderly people.