Usefulness of Reticulocyte Parameters for Diagnosis of Hereditary Spherocytosis in Children.

Innovations in laboratory equipment have enabled a widening of the spectrum of hematological parameters obtained from single measurements of peripheral blood samples, including reticulocyte parameters. The usefulness of reticulocytes indices to confirm the diagnosis of pediatric anemia was analyzed in this study. The study group consisted of 163 children, aged 1 month-17 years, with anemia. Complete blood count extended with an analysis of reticulocyte parameters were measured using a Beckman Coulter LH 750. The mean sphered corpuscular volume (MSCV) in the group of children with hereditary spherocytosis (HS) was 66.71 ± 8.45 fL, whereas in other anemic patients MSCV was 87.76 ± 11.22 fL, p < 0.0001. In HS children the average mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells was higher than the MSCV value, while an inverse correlation was observed in the group of children with other anemias, p < 0.0001. A significant difference was found between the ratio of absolute reticulocyte count and IRF fraction (Ret#/IRF)-0.6 ± 0.28 in the HS group and 0.23 ± 0.16 in the non-HS group, respectively. Our results suggest that analysis of reticulocyte parameters is useful in the diagnosis of anemia and should be included in the routine CBC analysis in anemic children.