Diagnostic Value of Red Cell Distribution Width Integrated with Peripheral Blood Smear Review in the Recognition of Dimorphic Anaemia: A Hospital-Based Analysis from Gurugram, North India

Abstract

 Background: Dimorphic anaemia the coexistence of two morphologically distinct red cell populations is numerically important in the Indian population, in which combined nutritional deficiency involving iron and vitamin B12 or folate is common. Recognition of dimorphic morphology on peripheral smear may be missed when interpretation relies on the mean corpuscular volume alone, and the incremental diagnostic value of the red cell distribution width in this setting has received comparatively limited direct hospital-based characterisation in North India.

Objectives: To characterise the distribution of the red cell distribution width across morphological categories of anaemia and to describe the incremental diagnostic contribution of the RDW, integrated with peripheral smear review, in recognising dimorphic morphology in a hospital-based North Indian cohort.