Clinical Significance of Reticulocyte Hemoglobin Content in the Diagnosis of Iron Deficiency Anemia

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of reticulocyte hemoglobin content (CHr) in the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and to compare it with other conventional iron parameters. Materials and Methods: A total of 32 female patients with IDA (serum hemoglobin <120 g/L and serum ferritin <20 ng/ mL) and 18 female patients with iron deficiency (serum hemoglobin > 120 g/L and serum ferritin <20 ng/mL) were enrolled. Results: CHr was 24.95±3.92 pg in female patients with IDA and 29.93±2.96 pg in female patients with iron deficiency. CHr showed a significant positive correlation with hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, serum iron, and transferrin saturation and a significant negative correlation with transferrin and total iron-binding capacity. The cut-off value of CHr for detecting IDA was 29 pg. Conclusion: Our data demonstrate that CHr is a useful parameter that can be confidently used in the diagnosis of IDA, and a CHr cut-off value of 29 pg predicts IDA. Conflict of interest:None declared.