The blood counts of 187 non-anaemic children who attended hospital with minor illnesses and who were between the ages of 12 months and 6 years were studied retrospectively. As many as 76-8% of these children were found to have MCVs below the normal adult range. A prospective study of a further 28 non-anaemic children in the same age group showed that the majority of children with low MCVs have ...

Iron deficiency is a continuum beginning from lowering of tissue stores to the phase of exhausted tissue stores, interference with iron driven biochemical reactions in the body, microcytosis, hypochromia, increasing severity of anaemia with all its attendant consequences. Iron deficiency anaemia is a very well known concept but what is often not appreciated is the effect of broad canvas of iron...

OBJECTIVES Many patients with vitamin B12 deficiency do not have anemia or macrocytosis, but the prevalence of B12 deficiency in patients without macrocytosis is not known. METHODS We investigated the prevalence of B12 deficiency among patients with normocytosis and microcytosis and recommended a screening strategy. All patients (n = 3714) with serum B12 measured at the Prince of Wales Hospit...

Reactive thrombocytosis secondary to iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) is a rare but recognized cause of stroke. We report the case of a patient with iron-deficiency anemia presenting with multiple transient ischemic attacks (TIA) due to intraluminal thrombus of an internal carotid artery. The putative mechanisms underlying anemia and stroke syndromes are not completely understood, and it is believe...

Two unusual but similar cases of very high serum iron, extremely high transferrin concentrations (5.4 to 6.5 g/L), and increased transferrin saturation are reported. No anemia or microcytosis was observed. The ferritin concentration remained within the normal range, and no iron overload was observed. In one case, the in vivo half-life of 59Fe-labeled transferrin was shown to be prolonged (206 m...

Genes for thalassaemias, sickle cell disorders and Glucose-6- phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency are known to be associated with prevalent malaria infection. The prevalence in the heterozygote state for sickle cell anaemia (SCA), G6PD and alpha thalassaemia is between 25-30% in Nigerians but the prevalence for the beta thalassaemia trait (BTT) is low. Under-diagnosis of BTT may arise fro...

Microcytic hypochromic anaemias are a result of defective iron handling by erythroblasts that decrease the haemoglobin content per red cell. Recent advances in our knowledge of iron metabolism and its homeostasis have led to the discovery of novel inherited anaemias that need to be distinguished from common iron deficiency or other causes of microcytosis. These atypical microcytic anaemias can ...

BACKGROUND Iron deficiency anaemia is a common paediatric problem worldwide, with significant neurodevelopmental morbidity if left untreated. A decrease in the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) can be used as a surrogate marker for detecting early iron deficiency prior to definitive investigation and treatment. An audit cycle was therefore undertaken to evaluate and improve the identification, foll...

We present the case of a 76-year-old male with history Type II diabetes presenting for routine HbA1c testing. The profile via capillary electrophoresis (CE) revealed presence an unknown haemoglobin peak 19.3% in Zone 1. Blood film showed microcytosis, hypochromia, poikilocytosis and red cell dimorphism. migrated HbH position on Sebia Capillarys3 Hemoglobin(E) program High Pressure Liquid Chroma...