A Comparative Study of Red Blood Cell Parameters in Patients of Dengue Fever with Thrombocytopenia in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To assess the significance of red blood cell parameters, including Haemoglobin, Haematocrit, Mean Corpuscular Volume, Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin, Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Concentration, and Red Cell Distribution Width in patients of Dengue fever with thrombocytopenia. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Pathology Department of Army Medical College, and Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Nov to Dec 2022. Methodology: Two hundred Dengue-positive serology patients were admitted and included in this study via non-probability consecutive sampling. Informed consent was taken from the patients, and a complete blood count was performed by a semi-automated haematology analyser, XP-100. Dengue fever patients were segregated into four Groups according to their platelet counts, and results were noted. Results: Out of 200 patients, 177(88.5%) of Dengue fever patients had thrombocytopenia. The analysis found a significant relationship between Haemoglobin, Mean Corpuscular Volume, and Haematocrit and platelet Groups 2 and 3 (p-values= 0.029, 0.025, and 0.008, respectively). Also, a significant association was found between Mean Corpuscular Volume and Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Concentration and Groups 1 and 3 (p-values =0.006 and 0.021 respectively). Conclusion: Red cell parameters, including Haemoglobin, Haematocrit, Mean Corpuscular Volume and, Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Concentration, can be considered early predictors of developing vascular leakage and dengue fever complications and showed significant association with the degree of thrombocytopenia.

Keywords

• Dengue fever; Red blood cell parameters; Thrombocytopenia