- W Owen Uprichard, general practitioner1,
- James Uprichard, consultant haematologist2
- 1Leicestershire, UK
- 2St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, Haematology Department, London SW17 0QT, UK
- Correspondence to: J Uprichard j.uprichard{at}nhs.net
Learning points
Iron deficiency anaemia and thalassaemia trait are the commonest causes of microcytic anaemia, but they may coexist
Serum ferritin and haemoglobin A2 quantitation are the two most important investigations to distinguish between iron deficiency anaemia and thalassaemia trait
Failure of iron deficiency anaemia to respond to oral iron supplementation may be due to poor adherence, malabsorption, continued blood loss, or the presence of a concurrent disorder such as thalassaemia trait or anaemia of chronic disease
A 27 year old Pakistani housewife presented with tiredness. She attributed some of this to looking after her 18 month old twins, born in Pakistan where she had received her antenatal care, but wondered if there might be another cause. She consumed a mixed diet, took no drugs or supplements, and had no anorexia, weight loss, gastrointestinal symptoms, or menorrhagia. A physical examination revealed pallor of the conjunctivae, but the findings were otherwise unremarkable. Anaemia was suspected.
A full blood count showed haemoglobin 86 g/L (reference range 110-140 g/L), mean cell volume 68 fL (76-96 fL), mean cell haemoglobin 22 pg (27-32 pg), white cell count 8×109/L (4-11×109/L), and platelet count 460×109/L (150-400×109/L).
What are the causes of microcytic anaemia?
Anaemia with a reduced mean cell volume is usually due to iron deficiency (table 1⇓) or in certain ethnic groups, thalassaemia trait1 (table 2⇓). Less commonly it may be due to sideroblastic anaemia or to anaemia of chronic disease (a hypoproliferative anaemia, often with raised inflammatory markers and occurring in response to infection, inflammation, or malignancy).2 Different anaemias, with distinguishing features, may coexist (table 3⇓).
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