2017 Volume 40 Issue 2 Pages 86-90
Objective: To identify the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of pernicious anemia (PA) in patients treated at Miyagami hospital on Tokunoshima Island.
Methods: We evaluated 14 patients with PA who were enrolled and treated from March 2009 to May 2014.
Results: The majority of patients were older than 50 years of age and primarily consisted of elderly women. Routine medical examinations revealed macrocytic anemia in 6 of the 14 patients (43%), although they were clinically asymptomatic and subsequently diagnosed with PA. The average number of patients per year was reported to be 3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25-3.42).
Conclusions: The annual incidence of PA per 100,000 individuals on Tokunoshima Island is possibly much higher than that previously reported in Japan. An increase in the elderly population, a negligence of the disease, and an ethnic and regional diversity may explain this discrepancy. As the annual incidence of PA may be higher than that previously reported, anemia must be carefully evaluated in the differential diagnosis of PA.
