Etiological Evaluation of Microcytic Hypochromic Anemia at a Tertiary Care Hospital in the Eastern Part of India

Abstract

Microcytic hypochromic anemia is a part anemia classification based on the morphology of anemia with well-known causes and management. The causes of microcytic hypochromic anemia may be either due to iron deficiency anemia, anemia of inflammation, or thalassemia. There are lots of recent advancements and studies done on the etiology of Microcytic Hypochromic anemia but accurate data especially from the eastern part of India are notavailable. To investigate the causes of Microcytic Hypochromic anaemia at a tertiary care centre in eastern India. After obtaining valid written consent, cases of microcytic hypochromic anaemia were selected from the OPD and indoors for this cross-sectional investigation. The whole haematological and biochemical investigations were sent for anaemia workup. The study comprised 100 patients with microcytic hypochromic disorder. The study comprised subjects ranging in age from 18 to 80 years. 39% were men and 61% were women. In thalassemia patients, the most common were b-thalassemia traits in 81.8 %, followed by 9% of each Delta B–thalassemia and double heterozygous HBE and beta thalassemia. Anemia is not an illness in and of itself, but rather a symptom of another, hence finding the underlying cause is significantly more important. The diagnosis of microcytic hypochromic anaemia is insufficient in the absence of an underlying cause. Special precautions will be made to determine the cause of iron deficient anaemia. The thalassemia trait must also be diagnosed in order to minimise excessive iron supplementation and for family screening.