Anemia due to decreased Hb but not RBC count?

[Daitong]

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Hi,

Is it possible to have anemia where the RBC count is maintained, but the Hb ct is decreased?

Or is it that RBC count ALWAYS acts as a proxy count for Hb, and they are always proportional to one another?

Best,

 

[iceman55]

I'm thinking thalassemia


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[DrPicard]

thalassemia is low hb and high rbc count

 

[ortnakas]

Per Pathoma, anemia is defined as a reduction in circulating RBC mass. RBC count, hemoglobin and hematocrit are all surrogates. We diagnose it based on hemoglobin.

 

[worldbeater]

anemia is defined as a reduction in circulating RBC mass. RBC count, hemoglobin and hematocrit are all surrogates. We diagnose it based on hemoglobin.

Correct. If you just get hematocrit values (like 45) and are trying to calculate hemoglobin, just divide it by 3 (to get hb of 15)

 

[DrPicard]

RBC mass should be (no of RBCs) x (MCV of RBCs). Microcytosis in thalassemia can be pretty extreme, which explains why there can be anemia even in the presence of increased RBC count. As far as I'm aware, other microcytic anemias don't share this peculiar quality.