Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Microcytosis does not predict low iron in anaemic dogs
By Paltrinieri, Saverio et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2010·Department of Veterinary Pathology, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Microcytosis does not predict serum iron concentrations in anaemic dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study involving 45 anemic dogs found that having smaller red blood cells (microcytosis) does not reliably indicate low iron levels in their blood (hyposideremia). While low iron was present in dogs with chronic bleeding and sometimes in those with inflammation, the size of the red blood cells did not help predict iron deficiency accurately. This means that if your dog has microcytosis, it doesn't necessarily mean they have low iron levels, and further testing would be needed to determine their iron status.
People also search for: dog anemia symptoms · low iron in dogs treatment · why are my dog's red blood cells small
Abstract
To determine whether microcytosis can be used to predict hyposideremia in dogs, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), iron and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were measured in 12 control and 45 anaemic dogs. Hyposideremia was found in all dogs with chronic haemorrhage and occasionally in other dogs but mainly associated with inflammation. An ROC curve analysis demonstrated that microcytosis did not discriminate hyposideremic dogs or hyposideremic dogs with normal TIBC from non-hyposideremic dogs. At the optimised cut-off value determined using the ROC curve (MCV=60.9 fL), diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios were 44.4%, 84.6%, 2.89 and 0.66 for hyposideremia, and 60.0%, 83.0%, 3.53 and 0.49 for hyposideremia not associated with decreased TIBC. The results indicate that microcytosis may not be a hallmark of hyposideremia in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19632869/