A test of vitamin B12 absorption and status.
A test to see if someone can absorb Vitamin B12 through the intestines, to determine cases of pernicious anaemia [After Robert Frederick Schilling (b. 1919), US physician].
A test of vitamin B12 blood levels, in which radioactive B12 is given orally and measured in 24-hour urine. An abnormal level may be the cause of anemia or other disease conditions.
A test used to assess a patient’s capacity to absorb vitamin B12 from the bowel. Radioactive vitamin B12 is given by mouth and urine collected for 24 hours. A normal individual will excrete at least 10% of the original dose over this period; a patient with ‘pernicious anemia will excrete less than 5%.
A test that uses oral, radioactive vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) and injected, nonradioactive B12 to assess the gastrointestinal absorption of the vitamin. It is used primarily to diagnose pernicious anemia but can also identify B12 malabsorption caused by other agents, including bacterial overgrowth of the gut and pancreatic insufficiency. A person with normal cyanocobalamin absorption excretes between 8% and 40% of radiolabeled B12 in a 24-hr urine collection taken after the injection.
This test is employed to assess the intestinal absorption of vitamin B12, aiming to identify conditions like pernicious anemia (inability to absorb vitamin B12). The individual receives a radioactive dose of the vitamin orally, and then their urine is collected and examined over a 24-hour period to quantify the excretion of the radioactive substance.