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Anaemia - iron deficiency - Management
What else might it be?
- The differential diagnosis of microcytic anaemia includes:
- Thalassaemia.
- Sideroblastic anaemias.
- Some anaemias of chronic disease.
- Lead poisoning (rare in adults).
- Thalassaemia and sideroblastic anaemia are both associated with an accumulation of iron, so tests will show an increase in serum iron and ferritin, and a low total iron-binding capacity.
- For people with thalassaemia trait (alpha or beta), the mean cell volume, mean cell haemoglobin, and mean cell haemoglobin concentration are all reduced and are very low for the degree of anaemia.
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