Which erythrocyte index provides an indication of the average hemoglobin content per red blood cell?

Which erythrocyte index provides an indication of the average hemoglobin content per red blood cell?

• A. RDW
• B. MCHC
• C. MCV
• D. MCH

Answer: (B)

The concept being tested is how we quantify how much hemoglobin is present in each red blood cell. The index that provides this information as a concentration within the cell is mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). It reflects how densely hemoglobin is packed inside the erythrocyte, essentially Hb per unit volume of packed cells. A lower MCHC indicates cells with less hemoglobin per volume (hypochromic cells), while higher values reflect more hemoglobin packed into the same volume. MCHC is calculated from hemoglobin and hematocrit values and is expressed as grams of Hb per deciliter of packed cells. This distinguishes it from MCV, which measures cell size; and from MCH, which describes the average hemoglobin content per cell by weight (not concentration). RDW, on the other hand, indicates variation in cell size.

The concept being tested is how we quantify how much hemoglobin is present in each red blood cell. The index that provides this information as a concentration within the cell is mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). It reflects how densely hemoglobin is packed inside the erythrocyte, essentially Hb per unit volume of packed cells. A lower MCHC indicates cells with less hemoglobin per volume (hypochromic cells), while higher values reflect more hemoglobin packed into the same volume.

MCHC is calculated from hemoglobin and hematocrit values and is expressed as grams of Hb per deciliter of packed cells. This distinguishes it from MCV, which measures cell size; and from MCH, which describes the average hemoglobin content per cell by weight (not concentration). RDW, on the other hand, indicates variation in cell size.