abnormal blood result/ lo rbc,lo hemoglobin,high mcv

hi doctor

                 My son Adrian is 9 years old he is 4 ft 5 in. tall  and weighs 68 pds. For the past 3 months he has been experiencing nausea and slight abdominal pain.( it comes and goes about 2x a week) He is also constantly tired. I've taken him to the doctor twice, and once to emergency. They took an xray which showed he was constipated. They gave me pepcid ac. However his blood results showed abnormalities. Hemoglobin came out 12.7, rbc came out 4.32 and mcv came out 88.9.
                   I was upset because they never called to give my the results I had to call and call. They tell me he has a slight anemia. I would like to know what does rbc and mcv have to do with anemia and should i be concerned? What other test do you suggest he take or how can we correct this?

[J.M. Keyes, MD]

Hi there,

Anemia is a common problem and is a condition that develops when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. These cells are the main transporters of oxygen to organs. If red blood cells (rbcs) are also deficient in hemoglobin, then your body isn't getting enough iron. Symptoms of anemia -- like fatigue -- occur because organs aren't getting enough oxygen.  MCV stands for mean corpuscular volume, and is an indicator of the size of the red blood cells- some causes of anemia give a decreased MCV (eg decreased iron) , and some give an increased  MCV (eg B12 or folate deficiency).

All of that being said, your sons values are within normal limits for his age group.  His numbers would be considered slightly abnormal for an adult, which is maybe why they were flagged as abnormal, but for children a normal Hb is 9.5-15.5, a normal rbc is 4-5.5, and a normal mcv is 82-98.  There can be slight variation in normal values depending on the lab, but Adrian's numbers are all well within normal.  Follow up with his pediatrician if you are having further concers and he is still not feeling well.

I hope this helps.
JMK MD

[marcy2302]

Thankyou doctor for your response. Yes he has a follow up next week, but I couldn't wait till then. I feel more at ease now.



                                                                    Gratefully,
                                                                     Marcela M