Idiopathic non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, vitamin B12 deficiency and gastric adenocarcinoma: an unreported association in a teenager.

UNLABELLED: A 14-year-old boy presented with anorexia and weakness whereon the diagnosis of dimorphic anaemia was made. An excellent response to iron and vitamin B12 was observed. In addition, the patient had non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. At endoscopy 2.5 years later, an adenocarcinoma was diagnosed and the patient underwent a high subtotal gastrectomy. To the best of our knowledge, this rare association has never been reported in children.

CONCLUSION

We report a youngster with pernicious anaemia, associated with nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in whom gastric adenocarcinoma was found. Patients with pernicious anaemia are at greater risk of developing gastric carcinoma than the general population, therefore we recommend routine periodic gastroscopic surveillance in the paediatric population with pernicious anaemia.