Mean erythrocyte hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) is the average concentration of hemoglobin contained in each liter of blood. The average erythrocyte hemoglobin concentration in normal adults is (320-360) g/L (or 32%-36%). The average erythrocyte hemoglobin concentration is mostly used for differential diagnosis of specific types of anemia in patients.
If the patient’s hemoglobin value is lower than normal, it proves that the patient is anemic, and then the type of anemia is determined based on the mean erythrocyte hemoglobin concentration. If the patient’s MCHC is below normal, it is mostly small cell hypochromic anemia, such as iron deficiency anemia, dyscrasia, and iron granulocytic anemia. If the patient’s MCHC is normal, the patient should be judged as macrocytic anemia or normocytic anemia based on their mean red blood cell volume (MCV). If MCV?100fl, it is macrocytic anemia, such as megaloblastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, etc. If MCV is normal (80-100fl), it is normocytic anemia, such as aplastic anemia, hemolytic anemia, etc. The etiology can thus be narrowed down, and the cause of the patient’s anemia can be clarified in combination with other relevant tests.
Therefore, mean erythrocyte hemoglobin concentration is mostly used for differential diagnosis of specific types of anemic patients, but it often needs to be combined with some other tests to make a clear diagnosis.