LABORATORY INDICES OF ANAEMIA IN THE NEONATE

Abstract

The standard laboratory definition of anaemia is a decrease in both the haemoglobin concentration and the number of erythrocytes and/or haematocrit in the volume of blood by more than 2 standard deviations below the mean value for age. To determine the cause of anaemia and successful treatment, it is important to know the physiology of erythropoiesis and the normal values of laboratory indices in the full-term and premature newborn. In this review article, we first describe the physiology of erythropoiesis, then explain the basic laboratory haematological parameters. This is followed by a section on less frequently determined laboratory indices for evaluating bone marrow activity that could be used more frequently in daily practice to avoid more extensive blood sampling. We describe the clinical approach to a newborn with anaemia. The last section is devoted to anaemia in the premature infant, which differs in many ways from anaemia in the full-term newborn.

Keywords

• anaemia
• full blood count
• erythropoietin
• reticulocyte
• iron
• neonate