Shine J W
East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine, Johnson City, USA.
Am Fam Physician. 1997 May 15;55(7):2455-62.
Because anemia is a condition rather than a disease, an underlying cause must be determined when anemia is identified. Microcytic anemia is a common category of anemia. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of microcytic anemia and is also the most common anemia. The clinical presentation of anemia varies according to its severity. Anemias resulting from chronic disease and thalassemia are also relatively common types of microcytic anemia and should be differentiated from iron deficiency to avoid repeated unnecessary trials of iron therapy. Low serum ferritin is the best single laboratory parameter for the diagnosis of iron deficiency. Serum iron, total iron binding capacity and hemoglobin electrophoresis, if necessary, can help differentiate the type of microcytic anemia in patients with normal or elevated levels of serum ferritin. If the evaluation identifies iron deficiency as the type of anemia, the underlying cause must be investigated.
由于贫血是一种状况而非疾病，因此在确诊贫血时必须确定其潜在病因。小细胞性贫血是贫血的常见类型。缺铁性贫血是最常见的小细胞性贫血类型，也是最常见的贫血类型。贫血的临床表现因其严重程度而异。慢性病和地中海贫血导致的贫血也是相对常见的小细胞性贫血类型，应与缺铁性贫血相鉴别，以避免反复进行不必要的铁剂治疗试验。低血清铁蛋白是诊断缺铁的最佳单一实验室指标。如有必要，血清铁、总铁结合力和血红蛋白电泳有助于鉴别血清铁蛋白水平正常或升高的患者的小细胞性贫血类型。如果评估确定贫血类型为缺铁性贫血，则必须调查其潜在病因。
