RDW as differential parameter between microcytic anemias in “pure” and concomitant forms

Abstract

Introduction: Iron deficiency anemia and thalassemia minor are microcytic and hypochromic types of anemia commonly found in our environment. The correct differentiation between them is of great clinical importance, although it is often hampered by the coexistence of diseases that may alter the results of standard tests for their discrimination, in addition to the significant costs of such tests. Objective:The objective of this study was to investigate the discriminatory power of red cell distribution width (RDW) between iron deficiency anemia and thalassemia minor. Method: Blood parameters were compared in 227 patients with iron deficiency anemia and/or thalassemia minor after diagnosis confirmed by molecular biology and HbA2 measurement for alpha thalassemia and beta thalassemia trait respectively. The frequency of alpha thalassemia trait in a population from two public hospitals of Minas Gerais was also determined. Result and conclusion: RDW was able to differentiate iron deficiency anemia from thalassemia trait, what indicates that this blood count parameter is a useful tool since concomitant disorders are excluded. In addition, a high frequency of the -α 3.7 mutation was observed in the study population (20.3%), justifying its investigation when another cause for microcytic anemia is absent.

Red Cell Distribution Width is Early Marker for Detection of Iron Deficiency Anemia during Pregnancy

“…Normal, low and high MCH and MCHC were noted as 18%, 79% and 3% respectively (p=0.0001). Our findings of RBC indices the MCV, MCH and MCHC are in comparison to Matos JF 2015 14 . has suggested diagnostic utility of RDW for distinction between microcytosis of IDA and thalassemia.…”

Prevalence of 3.7 and 4.2 deletions in Sudanese patients with red cells hypochromia and microcytosis

“…In this study we report that at least 7% of hypochromic microcytic anaemia patients were carriers of − α 3.7 deletion. Since incidence and prevalence of this syndrome was not well described in local population, it is extremely likely that α-thalassaemia triat may have been confused with iron deficiency state, especially if it was not assessed [14][15][16][17].…”

Combined cell index in assessing blood donor iron stores

“…However, Belza et al () demonstrated the stability of this parameter in day‐to‐day evaluations. One of the advantages of RDW is the ability to differentiate IDA and thalassemia (Aslan et al , ; Matos et al , ). Our study demonstrated satisfactory diagnostic value of this parameter, with an AUC of 0·900 in the overall study population, which approximated an AUC 0·903 for CCI.…”