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Diagnostic Pathology
Published in: Diagnostic Pathology 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Research

Red blood cell distribution width and iron deficiency anemia among pregnant Sudanese women

Authors: Esam G Abdelrahman, Gasim I Gasim, Imad R Musa, Leana M Elbashir, Ishag Adam

Published in: Diagnostic Pathology | Issue 1/2012

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Abstract

Background

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a major health problem during pregnancy and it has adverse effects on the mother and the newborn. Red cell distribution width (RDW), which is a quantitative measure for red cell size variation (anisocytosis), is a predictor of IDA. Little is known regarding RDW and IDA during pregnancy.

Methods

A cross sectional study was conducted at the antenatal clinic of Khartoum Hospital, Sudan, to determine the performance of RDW in the diagnosis of IDA using serum ferritin as a gold standard.

Results

Among 194 pregnant women with a gestational period of 21.4 ± 6.5 weeks, 57 (29.4%) had IDA according to serum ferritin levels (<15 μg/l) and 61 (31.4%) had IDA according to RDW (>14.5). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of RDW where serum ferritin was the gold standard were 43.8% (95% CI: 31.4–57.0%), 73.7% (95% CI: 65.8–80.5%), 41.0% (95% CI: 29.2–53.6%), and 76.0% (95% CI: 68.1–82.6%), respectively.

Conclusions

In this study, we found that RDW has a poor performance in diagnosing IDA among pregnant women compared with serum ferritin as the gold standard.

Virtual slides

The virtual slides for this article can be found here: http://​www.​diagnosticpathol​ogy.​diagnomx.​eu/​vs/​1721072967826303​
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
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Metadata
Title
Red blood cell distribution width and iron deficiency anemia among pregnant Sudanese women
Authors
Esam G Abdelrahman
Gasim I Gasim
Imad R Musa
Leana M Elbashir
Ishag Adam
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Diagnostic Pathology / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 1746-1596
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1596-7-168

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