TY - JOUR ID - TI - Comparative behavior of red blood cells indices in iron deficiency anemia and β‑thalassemia trait AU - Abdulbasit Nsief Jassim PY - 2016 VL - 5 IS - 2 SP - 183 EP - 186 JO - Iraq Joural of Hematology المجلة العراقية لامراض الدم SN - 20728069 25432702 AB - BACKGROUND: β‑thalassemia trait (β‑TT) is an important differential diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia (IDA).It is important to distinguish between the above conditions to avoid unnecessary iron therapy. IDA and β‑TT arethe two most common causes of microcytic hypochromic anemia. Red blood cells (RBCs) indices are a simple,easy, and cost‑effective method to get a primary and valuable information regarding the diagnosis of IDA and β‑TT.OBJECTIVES: This study was focused on the comparison of RBC indices behavior: hemoglobin (Hb),hematocrit (Hct), RBC count, mean cell volume (MCV), mean cell hemoglobin (MCH), MCH concentration (MCHC),and red cell distribution width (RDW) in IDA and β‑TT.PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty subjects with IDA (12 males and 38 females, age range: 18–65 years) andfifty subjects with β‑TT (twenty male and thirty females with age range: 17–66 years) were chosen. Both groupswere investigated for RBC indices by automated hematology analyzer.RESULTS: RBC count, Hb, and Hct were significantly lower with (P < 0.001) in IDA subjects than in β‑TTsubjects. MCH and MCHC were significantly lower with (P = 0.01 and 0.001, respectively) in IDA subjects thanin β‑TT subjects. RDW was significantly higher with (P < 0.001) in IDA subjects than in β‑TT subjects. There isno significant difference with (P = 0.2) regarding MCV between IDA subjects and β‑TT subjects.CONCLUSION: The study showed that RBC count, Hb, Hct, MCH, and MCHC were significantly lower in IDAsubjects than in β‑TT subjects, whereas RDW was significantly higher in IDA subjects than in β‑TT subjects.There was no significant difference regarding MCV between IDA subjects and β‑TT subjects.

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