This hemoglobin test can help diagnose anemia. Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration MCHC describes the average hemoglobin concentration in a given volume of red blood cells. It's a lab value that's found on a complete blood count CBC.
An MCHC blood test may be used as a preliminary check for anemia. A higher or lower than normal MCHC value may indicate that you have a type of anemia, which means you have a low red blood cell count, but your healthcare provider may order more diagnostic tests to be sure.
MCHC is a measure of the concentration of hemoglobin in red blood cells. Since hemoglobin is the molecule to which oxygen attaches, MCHC is a measure of the average oxygen-carrying capacity of the red blood cells circulating in the body.
For example, this may include routine health screenings or during the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of a wide range of medical conditions. A healthcare provider may specifically look at MCHC results:. While the MCHC value is helpful in diagnosing anemia, it is also used along with the red blood cell count and other red blood cell indices such as mean corpuscular volume MCV and red cell distribution width RDW to help diagnose other health issues.
Hemoglobin is what gives red blood cells their color. A higher concentration of hemoglobin with high MCHC makes the cells appear darker hyperchromicwhile a low concentration with low MCHC makes them appear lighter hypochromic. MCHC is calculated by multiplying the hemoglobin level times 10 and then dividing by the hematocrit levelwhich is the volume Språk och översättning of red blood cells in your blood.
The number is recorded in grams per liter. A low MCHC hypochromia may mean that there is a lower concentration of hemoglobin within a given volume of red blood cells, and, hence, a reduced capacity to carry oxygen to the body's tissues. A high MCHC hyperchromia can mean that there is a higher hemoglobin concentration in red blood cells than usual.
Know, however, that your MCHC value may be normal with many types of anemia normochromic anemiassuch as:. Some labs have a smaller range of normal, for example, between Possible causes of low MCHC include:. A low MCHC without anemia is associated with poor outcomes for people in intensive care.
It may also indicate iron deficiency before anemia develops. There can be various reasons for a high MCHC. For instance, MCHC may be falsely increased due to cold agglutinin disease CADa rare autoimmune disorder in which the body's immune system attacks red blood cells.
Potential causes of a high MCHC with anemia include:. For example, your MCHC reading after a blood transfusion may not accurately reflect the concentration in your red blood cells alone. This is because blood drawn after a blood transfusion will be a mixture of donated cells plus a person's normal red blood cells.
Other limitations that can affect the accuracy of your MCHC reading include:.