Article: Reticulocyte hemoglobin more accurately measures iron levels.(Clinical Rounds)

Reticulocyte hemoglobin content appears to be a better marker of iron deficiency than erythrocyte hemoglobin in healthy infants aged 9-12 months, and may even be a useful tool for predicting later anemia, Christina Ullrich, M.D., and her associates reported.

Reticulocyte hemoglobin is a more accurate marker because it measures the iron in blood cells newly released from bone marrow, said Dr. Ullrich of Children's Hospital, Boston, and her associates (JAMA 2005:294:924-30).

"The hemoglobin test is based on the entire population of red blood cells, which live for about 120 days and don't gain any iron once they are released from the marrow," she said in an ...

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