Reticulocyte hemoglobin measurement – comparison of two methods in the diagnosis of iron-restricted erythropoiesis

Abstract

AbstractThe aims of this study were to diagnose iron-restricted erythropoiesis (functional iron deficiency) in patients with classic iron deficiency (ID), anemia of chronic disease (ACD) and the combined state of ID/ACD with the use of two hematological methods for the measurement of reticulocyte hemoglobinization. In comparison, the biochemical markers of iron status were determined. We studied 474 anemic patients admitted to hospital with a broad spectrum of diseases. We measured indicators of reticulocyte hemoglobinization. CHr was determined on an Advia 120 hematology analyzer. A Sysmex XE-2100 hematology analyzer was used to determine RET-Y, the forward scatter of fluorescence-labeled reticulocytes, which can also be expressed as the reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (RET-H