Anemia in the elderly: Not always what it seems

Abstract

Anemia in the elderly is a common but challenging clinical scenario. Here we describe the case of an older woman who presented with anemia and elevated inflammation markers. After a complete diagnostic work-up, a definite etiology of the anemia could not be found so eventually a bone marrow biopsy was performed and she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome. She responded well to erythropoietin treatment but her inflammation markers remained elevated thus a positron emission tomography was performed. It turned out that the patient suffered from giant cell artheritis and her anemia completely resolved after steroid treatment. Our case outlines that it is necessary to pay particular attention to anemia of inflammation, which could be due to several and often masked conditions. Myelodysplatic syndromes should be considered when other causes have been ruled out, but their diagnosis can be difficult and requires expertise in the field.