The Value of the Combined Tests of Mean Corpuscular Volume and SerumFerritin for Screening Mild Thalassemia in Prenatal Population

Objective To study the value of the combined tests of mean corpuscular volume(MCV) and serum ferritin(SF) for screening mild thalassemia in prenatal population.Methods Haematological routine,thalassemia gene analysis,serum iron(SI) test and serum ferritin test were done for all samples.Values of RBC,Hb,HCT,MCV,MCH,MCHC,RET,RDW,SI and SF were used for comparative study of iron deficiency anemia(n=76) and mild thalassemia(n=84).And the results were campared with gene analysis in order to evaluating sensitivity and specificity of haematological indices.Results Compared with the normal group,RBC parameters including Hb,HCT,MCV,MCH and MCHC in IDA and thalassemia groups were significantly decreased,RDW and RET significantly increased(P0.01).MCV in thalassemia group was significantly lower than that in IDA group(P0.01).SF in IDA group was obviously lower than that in the control(P0.01) but SF in thalassemia group obviously higher than that in the control(P0.01).In addition,comparing with gene analysis,the sensitivity and specificity of MCV was 97.6% and 54.5% respectively in diagnosing thalassemia,the specificity of the combined tests of MCV and SF was 97% in diagnosing thalassemia.Conclusion The combined tests of MCV and SF may be a simple and effective laboratory means for screening mild thalassemia in prenatal population.