@article{Kalairajan_2019, title={A Study of Red Cell Distribution Width and RBC Indices in Iron Deficiency Anemia}, volume={8}, url={https://aijournals.com/index.php/ajmr/article/view/774}, DOI={10.21276/ajmr.2019.8.2.ME5}, abstractNote={<p><strong>Background: </strong>Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most prevalent micronutrient deficiency in the world. The etiological method of classification involves anemias due to impaired red cell production, hemolytic anemia due to increased red cell destruction and anemia due to blood loss in cases of trauma or injuries. In Indian anemia affects females (9.9%) more than males (7.8%). <strong>Subjects and Methods: </strong>This was a retrospective type of study in which we evaluated 100 cases of microcytic anemia. The primary objective of this study was to explore the role of red cell distribution width (RDW) in diagnosing iron deficiency anemia (IDA). The cut off point for hemoglobin (Hb), MCV, RDW and serum ferritin were taken according to normal reference ranges for both sexes and different age groups, from Dacie and Lewis Practical Haematology. <strong>Results: </strong>Amongst data of 62, maximum number of females have their hemoglobin in the range of 10-9.1 and amongst data of 38 males, maximum number of males have their hemoglobin in the range of either 7-6.1 or 5-2.&nbsp; Microcytic hypochromic anemia was seen in 17 out of 100 anemic patients. Its common causes are iron deficiency, sideroblastic, chronic disease, inflammation, lead poisoning and thalassemia trait. Normochromic normocytic anemia was recorded in 56 patients among them 37 subjects were females while 19 subjects were males. Hyperchromic anemia was observed in 9 patients (5 females and 4 males). <strong>Conclusion: </strong>Present study underlined the importance and role of RDW in diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia. In a scenario of high prevalence of anemia in our country and even higher costs of specialized tests, the need to adopt cost effective, accurate and efficient measures is required. Since different etiologic factors result in characteristically different red cell morphology, the clinician can properly plan the management of a patient with an anemia if the blood counts are interpreted according to red cell indices.</p&gt;}, number={2}, journal={Asian Journal of Medical Research}, author={Kalairajan, Sankar}, year={2019}, month={Jun.}, pages={ME11-ME14} }