DIAGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF MEASURING RETICULOCYTE MATURITY INDICES IN IRON DEFICIENCY ANAEMIA

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic significance of reticulocyte maturity indices in iron deficiency anaemia. Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Hematology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, from Sep 2019 to Jun 2020. Methodology: A total of 340 children, ages between 1 and 5 years of either gender, were divided into two groups based on haemoglobin and ferritin level. Group A comprised of 203 children with haemoglobin >11 g/dL andferritin level >7 ng/ mL. Group B comprised of 137 children with haemoglobin <11g/dL and ferritin <7 ng/mL. Red blood cell and reticulocyte parameters were compared. Results: Iron deficiency anaemia was found to be 37.6% in the study population. Comparison revealed that the children in groups B had significantly higher mean red cell distribution width (17.1 ± 1.3% vs. 13.3 ± 1.3%) and significantly lower hemoglobin (9.5 ± 1.0 g/dL vs. 12.7 ± 1.0 g/dL), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (21.8 ± 2.5 pg vs. 28.6 ± 2.3 pg), mean corpuscular volume (69.4 ± 3.5 fL vs. 80.4 ± 3.3 fL), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (31.5 ± 1.8 g/dL vs. 32.7 ± 1.6 g/dL) and serum ferritin level (4.5 ± 2.6 mg/mL vs. 55.9 ± 32.1 ng/mL). No significant differences in the mean total red blood cell count, hematocrit and reticulocytes between two groups were noted (p>0.05) and significant differences were noted in terms of low, medium & high fluorescence ratios in both groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that medium fluorescence ratio and high fluorescence ratio were higher among children with iron deficiency anaemia.