Test | Iron deficiency anemia | Alpha or beta thalassemia | ACD/AI |
Complete blood count | |||
Hemoglobin | Decreased | Normal or decreased | Decreased |
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) | Decreased | Decreased | Normal to decreased |
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) | Normal to decreased | Decreased | Normal to decreased |
Red cell distribution width (RDW) | Increased | Mildly increased or normal | Normal to increased |
RBC count | Decreased | Increased or normal | Decreased |
Peripheral blood smear/RBC morphology | Anisocytosis, hypochromia | Anisopoikilocytosis, hypochromia | Normal |
Iron studies | |||
Serum iron | Decreased | Normal or increased | Decreased |
Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC); transferrin | Increased | Normal | Decreased |
Transferrin saturation (TSAT) | Decreased | Normal | Normal to decreased |
Serum ferritin | Decreased | Normal or increased | Normal to increased |
Erythrocyte protoporphyrin* | Increased | Normal or increased | Increased |
Soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR)* | Increased | Increased | Normal |
Reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (Ret-he or CHr) | Decreased | Decreased | Normal |
C-reactive protein | Normal | Normal | Increased |
Serum hepcidin* | Decreased | Normal to decreased | Increased |
Serum erythropoietin* | Increased | Increased | Normal to moderately increased |
ACD/AI: anemia of chronic disease/anemia of inflammation; RBC: red blood cell.
* Not used in the routine evaluation of anemia. Erythropoietin is not useful unless the hemoglobin is <10 g/dL.Do you want to add Medilib to your home screen?