Which indices are most commonly used to classify anemias by cell size and hemoglobin content?

• A. MCV, MCH, MCHC
• B. WBC, Platelets, Hb
• C. RDW, MCV, Hct
• D. Hb, Hct, MCV

Answer: (A)

Red blood cell indices are the measurements used to describe anemia in terms of cell size and hemoglobin content. The mean corpuscular volume (MCV) tells you the average size of the red cells, so you can categorize them as microcytic (small) or macrocytic (large). The mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) reflects the average amount of hemoglobin per red cell, indicating the overall Hb content per cell. The mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) measures how concentrated the hemoglobin is within each cell, helping identify hypochromia when Hb concentration is low. Together, MCV, MCH, and MCHC allow you to classify anemia patterns such as microcytic hypochromic, macrocytic normochromic, or normocytic normochromic, guiding differential diagnoses like iron deficiency or megaloblastic anemia.

Other items listed aren’t primary indices for sizing or Hb content per cell: WBC and platelets are counts of other cell lines; RDW shows variation in cell size but isn’t the per-cell Hb metric; Hb or Hct alone don’t describe cell size or Hb concentration within cells.