European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background- Iron deficiency anaemia is the most common nutritional anaemia in children and it is the most common cause of microcytic anaemia. Other than this, there are many other causes of microcytic anaemia and Red Cell Distribution Width is a very good parameter to differentiate these.

Objective- To compare  peripheral blood smear findings and Red Cell Distribution Width in diagnosis of Iron Deficiency Anaemia and other microcytic anaemia

Method- It is a prospective study and was conducted from July 2017 to June 2018 in Department of Paediatrics& Neonatology, RIMS, Ranchi. 150 children from 6 months to 12 years of age with microcytic anaemia were taken. This study group was divided into Iron Deficient (ID) and Non Iron Deficient (NID) with the criteria of ID ( Serum Ferritin <7ng/mL &/or TIBC >400mg/dL) and NID ( S.Ferritin>7ng/mL &/or TIBC <400mg/dL)

Result- Comparison of mean RDW among the two groups showed that the RDW was significantly higher in ID group compared to the NID group on unpaired t test (p<0.0001)

Conclusion- Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW) is a better investigation parameter than peripheral blood smear examination for diagnosis of Iron Deficiency Anaemia