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Measuring Deformability and Red Cell Heterogeneity in Blood by Ektacytometry
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Published on: January 12, 2018

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Mean corpuscular volume, hematocrit and polycythemia

Leonid L Yavorkovsky1

  • 1Oncology Division, Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, San Jose, CA, USA.

Hematology (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
|November 10, 2021
PubMed

Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as a measure of the size of red blood cells (RBCs) has been pivotal in the diagnosis and morphologic classification of anemias for over a century. Despite its ubiquitous use and time-honored diagnostic value, one essential attribute of MCV has remained under the radar. It has been long underappreciated that the size of RBC correlates with the amount of hemoglobin (Hb) that it accommodates and, therefore, is an important determining factor of the total Hb level. By scrutinizing this basic principle, it has become possible to uncover a hitherto obscured relationship between MCV, hematocrit (Hct) and RBCs described as a dynamic equilibrium. This principle is shown to be invaluable in interpreting RBC parameters, particularly for the evaluation of patients with polycythemia.

Keywords:
MCVMacrocytosiserythrocytosispolycythemia

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