To use all functions of this page, please activate cookies in your browser.
my.chemeurope.com
With an accout for my.chemeurope.com you can always see everything at a glance – and you can configure your own website and individual newsletter.
- My watch list
- My saved searches
- My saved topics
- My newsletter
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrationThe mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, or MCHC, is a measure of the concentration of hemoglobin in a given volume of packed red blood cell. It is reported as part of a standard complete blood count. It is diminished ("hypochromic") in microcytic anemias, and normal ("normochromic") in macrocytic anemias (due to larger cell size, though the haemoglobin amount or MCH is high, the concentration remains normal). MCHC is elevated in hereditary spherocytosis. Additional recommended knowledgeThis count is used to give a rough guide to what shade of red, RBC will be. (paler=lower than the standard) Because of the way automated analysers count blood cells, a very high MCHC (greater than about 370 g/L) may indicate the blood is from someone with a cold agglutinin. This means that when their blood gets colder than 37°C it starts to clump together. As a result, the analyzer may incorrectly report a low number of very dense red blood cells for blood samples in which agglutination has occurred. This problem is usually picked up by the laboratory before the result is reported. The blood is warmed until the cells separate from each other, and quickly put through the machine while still warm. It is calculated by dividing the hemoglobin by the hematocrit. A normal value is 32 to 36 g/dl.[1] See also
References
|
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mean_corpuscular_hemoglobin_concentration". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia. |