Classification of anemia for gastroenterologists.

Most anemia is related to the digestive system by dietary deficiency, malabsorption, or chronic bleeding. We review the World Health Organization definition of anemia, its morphological classification (microcytic, macrocytic and normocytic) and pathogenic classification (regenerative and hypo regenerative), and integration of these classifications. Interpretation of laboratory tests is included, from the simplest (blood count, routine biochemistry) to the more specific (iron metabolism, vitamin B12, folic acid, reticulocytes, erythropoietin, bone marrow examination and Schilling test).

BaselinTc99-MIBI scanning predicts survival in multiple myeloma and helps to differentiate this disease from monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance.

We performed baselineTc(99)-MIBI scanning in 43 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and in 31 with monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS) patients. We identified two groups of MM patients whose actuarial survival correlated with low or high MIBI scores. MGUS patients had normal or very low scores.