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RMJ. 2016; 41(4): 424-427


Clinical utility of Red blood cell count, Red cell distribution width: will it provide more accurate differentiation of Beta thalassemia trait and Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy?

Shahida Tasneem, Nadra Sultana, Ayesha Snover, Kinza Alam.


Abstract
Objective: To test clinical utility of red blood cell count, red cell distribution width (RDW), along with these previously used indices in differential diagnosis in Beta thalassemia trait (BTT) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA).
Methodology: This was cross sectional study, performed at Department Gynecology, Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan for 18 months from January 2013 to July 2014 on 95 patients with microcytic anemia (MCV <82) in pregnancy. Eighteen patients were excluded due to incomplete data. Serum ferritin was checked for all patients. Patients with ferritin level <15mg/dl were labeled as IDA. Those with ferritin >15 were further evaluated by Hb electrophoresis to diagnose thalassemia trait. CBC parameters i.e. Red blood cell count, Mean Corpuscular volume, Mean corpuscular hemoglobin, Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, Red cell distribution Width were compared in both IDA and BTT groups.
Results: Out of total 77 patients, 50 were IDA and 27 patients BTT. Prominent eryrthrocytosis was feature of BTT group (P <0.05). While, RDW was not found significantly different in two groups.
Conclusion: Increased RBC count was found to increase the sensitivity of CBC in differentiating between IDA and BTT.

Key words: Beta Thalassemia Trait, Iron deficiency anemia, complete blood count, pregnancy


 
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How to Cite this Article
Pubmed Style

Tasneem S, Sultana N, Snover A, Alam K. Clinical utility of Red blood cell count, Red cell distribution width: will it provide more accurate differentiation of Beta thalassemia trait and Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy?. RMJ. 2016; 41(4): 424-427.

Web Style

Tasneem S, Sultana N, Snover A, Alam K. Clinical utility of Red blood cell count, Red cell distribution width: will it provide more accurate differentiation of Beta thalassemia trait and Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy?. https://www.rmj.org.pk/?mno=221651 [Access: October 30, 2025].

AMA (American Medical Association) Style

Tasneem S, Sultana N, Snover A, Alam K. Clinical utility of Red blood cell count, Red cell distribution width: will it provide more accurate differentiation of Beta thalassemia trait and Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy?. RMJ. 2016; 41(4): 424-427.


Vancouver/ICMJE Style

Tasneem S, Sultana N, Snover A, Alam K. Clinical utility of Red blood cell count, Red cell distribution width: will it provide more accurate differentiation of Beta thalassemia trait and Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy?. RMJ. (2016), [cited October 30, 2025]; 41(4): 424-427.


Harvard Style

Tasneem, S., Sultana, . N., Snover, . A. & Alam, . K. (2016) Clinical utility of Red blood cell count, Red cell distribution width: will it provide more accurate differentiation of Beta thalassemia trait and Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy?. RMJ, 41 (4), 424-427.


Turabian Style

Tasneem, Shahida, Nadra Sultana, Ayesha Snover, and Kinza Alam. 2016. Clinical utility of Red blood cell count, Red cell distribution width: will it provide more accurate differentiation of Beta thalassemia trait and Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy?. Rawal Medical Journal, 41 (4), 424-427.


Chicago Style

Tasneem, Shahida, Nadra Sultana, Ayesha Snover, and Kinza Alam. "Clinical utility of Red blood cell count, Red cell distribution width: will it provide more accurate differentiation of Beta thalassemia trait and Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy?." Rawal Medical Journal 41 (2016), 424-427.


MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style

Tasneem, Shahida, Nadra Sultana, Ayesha Snover, and Kinza Alam. "Clinical utility of Red blood cell count, Red cell distribution width: will it provide more accurate differentiation of Beta thalassemia trait and Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy?." Rawal Medical Journal 41.4 (2016), 424-427. Print.


APA (American Psychological Association) Style

Tasneem, S., Sultana, . N., Snover, . A. & Alam, . K. (2016) Clinical utility of Red blood cell count, Red cell distribution width: will it provide more accurate differentiation of Beta thalassemia trait and Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy?. Rawal Medical Journal, 41 (4), 424-427.


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