PMID- 35386733
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20220408
IS  - 2090-1267 (Print)
IS  - 2090-1275 (Electronic)
IS  - 2090-1267 (Linking)
VI  - 2022
DP  - 2022
TI  - A Retrospective Study Using Mentzer Index for Prevalence of Iron Deficiency 
      Anemia among Infants Visiting Maternal Centers at the Age of One Year.
PG  - 7236317
LID - 10.1155/2022/7236317 [doi]
LID - 7236317
AB  - Anemia, defined as a hemoglobin level two standard deviations below the mean for 
      age, is prevalent in infants and children worldwide. Characterizing anemia as 
      microcytic and normocytic depends on the mean corpuscular volume (MCV), which is 
      an important parameter in differentiating many types of anemia. Microcytic anemia 
      due to iron deficiency is the most common type of anemia in children. In this 
      study, we aimed to assess the Mentzer index used by the Ministry of Health (MOH) 
      in Palestine as a useful tool in differentiating between iron deficiency anemia 
      (IDA) and thalassemia. We assessed for the prevalence of IDA among infants at the 
      age of one year visiting the mother centers from seven West Bank provinces in 
      Palestine. Medical records and hematology laboratory data of 3262 infants were 
      retrospectively analyzed from the years of 2018 to 2020. The Mentzer index 
      applied to all population by dividing mean corpuscular volume (MCV, in fL) by the 
      red blood cell count (RBC, in millions per microliter). A corrected Mentzer index 
      was further calculated among anemic infants to include only microcytic (MCV with 
      less than 72 fl) and hypochromic (mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration 
      (MCHC) with less than 32 g/L) indices. Mentzer index calculations for the whole 
      population showed that 29.1% were anemic (hemoglobin (HGB) less than 11 g/dl): 
      21.1% had mild anemia, 7.6% had moderate anemia, while 0.2% had severe anemia. 
      The corrected Mentzer index calculations showed a prevalence of 5.9% and 3.2% 
      among IDA and thalassemia infants, respectively. Severity of anemia was 
      correlated with low body weight and infants born through cesarean mother birth 
      with no interference with gender influence. CBC indices of RBC count, HGB, MCV, 
      and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) showed a significant difference (p 
      values < 0.05) between IDA and thalassemia infants' populations following the 
      corrected Mentzer index. With the corrected Mentzer index, we introduced a new 
      CBC index among infants at the age of 1 year in Palestine. These lab references 
      could aid in differentiating IDA and thalassemia among the population and improve 
      initial diagnosis screenings. The Mentzer index calculation for the whole 
      population did not necessarily include cases of IDA, and therefore, it is 
      recommended to comprise microcytic and hypochromic anemia indices prior to 
      performing the Mentzer index.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2022 Johnny Amer.
FAU - Amer, Johnny
AU  - Amer J
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-5828-6783
AD  - Department of Allied and Applied Medical Sciences, Division of Anatomy 
      Biochemistry and Genetics, An-Najah National University, P.O. Box 7, Nablus, 
      State of Palestine.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20220327
PL  - Egypt
TA  - Anemia
JT  - Anemia
JID - 101536021
PMC - PMC8977343
COIS- The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any 
      commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential 
      conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2022/04/08 06:00
MHDA- 2022/04/08 06:01
PMCR- 2022/03/27
CRDT- 2022/04/07 05:16
PHST- 2021/09/17 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2022/03/15 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2022/04/07 05:16 [entrez]
PHST- 2022/04/08 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2022/04/08 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2022/03/27 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1155/2022/7236317 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Anemia. 2022 Mar 27;2022:7236317. doi: 10.1155/2022/7236317. eCollection 2022.