UTILITY OF BLOOD INDICES AND PARAMETERS FOR DIFFERENTIATING IRON DEFICIENCY ANAEMIA AND β-THALASSEMIA TRAIT BY CALCULATING VARIOUS DISCRIMINANT FUNCTIONS

The most commonly encountered disorders with microcytic anemia are iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and β-thalassemiatrait (BTT).It is important to distinguish between IDA and BTT to avoid unnecessary iron therapy and the development ofhemosiderosis.Various parameters obtained on automated haematology analyser by calculating discriminant functionshave been helpful to differentiate iron deficiency anemia and β-thalassemia trait. Materials and Methods: This studywas carried out in the pathology department of Gujarat Adani Institute Of Medical Science.We had studied 100 cases ofdifferentiating Iron deficiency anaemia and β-Thalassaemia trait from patient's case records and laboratory reportsirrespective of age and sex over a period of one year (January 2020 to December 2020).Tests for serum iron and ferritinwere carried out in individuals showing low hemoglobin (Hb). All the selected subjects' samples were subjected toblood morphology, comparison of mean cell volume (MCV), RBC count, red cell distribution width (RDW), Red celldistribution width Index (RDWI),Srivastav Index(SI),Green and king Index (GI) and Mentzer's Index(MI). Results: Outof 100 cases seventy five were diagnosed having iron deficiency anaemia, whereas twenty five were having βthalassemia trait. The RBC count was higher and MCV was much lower in β-thalassemia trait as compared to irondeficiency anaemia.Both groups were subjected to RDW,RDWI,SI,MI and GI. Conclusion:Among various discriminantfunction calculated from different haematological parameters and blood indices,Mentzer index and Srivasta index aremore sensitive and specific for differentiating iron deficiency anaemia and β-thalassemia trait.