Assessments
Hi, my name is Alex Langridge and I am a consultant haematologist working in the North-East. These sessions will cover the effect of iron deficiency on red cell indices and blood cell morphology.
Iron deficiency is an incredibly common finding in the haematology lab, and confidence in identifying it from red cell indices and morphology is a very important skill.
In the session we will briefly remind ourselves of the role iron in red cell production, sources of iron and causes of iron deficiency. We will then cover which red cell induces are affected by iron deficiency and finally the impact this has on morphology of red cells. These features can be very helpful to identify iron deficiency and to help differentiate between thalassaemia and iron deficiency, or if there is anaemia with multiple potential pathologies.
I find that the changes seen in iron deficiency are a particularly good example of when your interpretation of the blood film can give some really useful information to the clinical team requesting the sample. With this, you will hopefully be able to improve patient care by delivering critical information about features of iron deficiency.