Significance of a low mean corpuscular volume in patients in Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Malaysia

Lau Kin Mun¹, Rudy SC Yeoh¹, Yasmin Ayob² 

1. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor

2. Blood Bank, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, 50586 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Correspondence: Dr Rudy SC Yeoh

CITATION: Lau Kin Mun, Rudy SC Yeoh, Yasmin Ayob. Significance of a low mean corpuscular volume in patients in Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Malaysia. International Medical Research Journal. 1999;3(1):13–6. 

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ABSTRACT

A study was carried out to determine the common causes of a low mean corpuscular volume in patients admitted to Kuala Lumpur Hospital between 1 January and 30 June 1998. A total of 2097 microcytic cases were selected based on a mean corpuscular volume of less than 76 fL as determined by the Abbott CELL-DYN ® 1700 System Electronic Cell Counter. Iron deficiency (50%) is the most common cause of microcytic anaemia, followed by chronic diseases (21 %), and thalassaemia syndromes (20%). Iron deficiency anaemia is still relatively prevalent (16.3%).

KEYWORDS: microcytic anaemia, iron deficiency anaemia, corpuscular volume