How to Diagnose Microcytic Hypochromic Anemia with Blood Tests

How to Diagnose Microcytic Hypochromic Anemia with Blood Tests

Microcytic hypochromic anemia Etiology/Causes

“Understanding microcytic hypochromic anemia: Causes and tests”

1. Iron deficiency anemia

• Due to increased blood loss
  • Uterine, For Example. Excessive menstruation in reproductive years, repeated miscarriages at the onset of menarche, postmenopausal uterine bleeding
  • Gastrointestinal, For Example. peptic ulcer, hemorrhoids, hookworm infestation, cancer of the stomach and large bowel, esophageal varices, hiatus hernia, chronic aspirin ingestion, ulcerative colitis, diverticulosis
  • Renal tract, For Example. hematuria, hemoglobinuria
  • Nose, For Example. repeated epistaxis
  • Lungs, For Example. hemoptysis

Microcytic hypochromic anemia

“Treatment options based on blood test findings in microcytic anemia”

• Due to increased requirements
  • Spurts of growth in infancy, childhood, and adolescence
  • Prematurity
  • Pregnancy and lactation
• Due to inadequate dietary intake
  • Poor economic status
  • Anorexia, For Example. in pregnancy
  • Elderly individuals due to poor dentition, apathy, and financial constraints
• Due to decreased absorption
  • Partial or total gastrectomy
  • Achlorhydria
  • Intestinal malabsorption, such as in coeliac disease

Diagnosis of microcytic hypochromic anemia

“Importance of blood tests in detecting microcytic hypochromic anemia”

2. Sideroblastic anemia

3. Thalassemia

4. Anemia of chronic disorders

• Defective red cell production
• Reduce red cell life span.

5. Isoniazide, pyrizinamide therapy.

Microcytic Hypochromic Anemia Lab Findings

1. General blood parameters

• Hemoglobin is decreased
• RBC count is decreased
• RBC indices, i.e., MCV, M, C, H and M, C HC are reduced or low

“Impact of low MCV and MCH levels in microcytic anemia”

2. Peripheral blood smear

It shows the following features, i.e.

• Microcytic hypochromic cells, i.e., red cells, are smaller than normal and have increased central pallor.
• Anisocytosis or variation in size of the cell. This is indicated by increased red cell distribution width and is more marked in iron deficiency anemia.
• Poikilocytosis or variation in the shape of the cell, i.e., the presence of a tailed variety of RBC, elliptical form, is common.
• In severe anemia, there is the presence of normoblasts, elliptocytes, pencil-shaped cells, and target cells.
• There is the presence of normal, increased, or decreased platelet count and unremarkable WBCs.

Microcytic anemia lab tests

“Role of mean corpuscular volume (MCV) in anemia diagnosis”

3. Reticulocyte count: It is normal or decreased.

4. Bone marrow

• There is the presence of erythroid hyperplasia,  due to which marrow cellularity is increased.
• In the bone marrow, the prominent cell is polychromatic normoblasts, which is smaller than nor. Mall.
• Cytoplasm shows ragged borders.
• Cytoplasmic maturation lags behind that of the nucleus.
• Prussian blue stain shows a decrease in iron stores.

“Early warning signs of microcytic hypochromic anemia explained”

4. Iron studies

• There is a decrease in the serum iron.
• Total iron binding capacity is high and rises to give less than 10% saturation.
• Serum ferritin is very low,w which is indicative of poor tissue iron stores.
• Red cell protoporphyrin is very low.
• Serum transferrin receptor protein, which is normally present in developing erythroid cells and reflects total red cell mass, is raised in iron deficiency due to its release in circulation.