Establishing local reference intervals for full blood count and white blood cell differential counts in Cape Town, South Africa

CONCLUSIONS: Locally established, population-specific RIs are essential for the accurate interpretation of haematological indices. This study established locally derived gender-specific RIs for the Cape Town region, after exclusion of iron deficiency. These new RIs have implications for the accurate diagnoses of cytopenias, cytoses and other blood count abnormalities. Iron deficiency is common in first-time blood donors, and screening for iron deficiency using point-of-care testing should be considered.PMID:33944765 | DOI:10.7196/SAMJ.2021.v111i4.15313

Source: South African Medical Journal - May 4, 2021 Category: African Health Authors: A De Koker A R Bird C Swart J J Rogerson C Hilton J J Opie Source Type: research