The mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, or MCHC, is a measure of the concentration hemoglobin in a red blood cell. It is reported as part of a standard complete blood count. It is diminished in microcytic anemias, and increased in macrocytic anemias.
Because of the way automated analysers count blood cells, a very high MCHC (greater than about 370 g/L) may indicate the blood is from someone with a cold agglutination problem. This means that when their blood gets colder than 37°C it starts to clump together. This makes the machine think there are a low number of very dense red blood cells.
This is problem usually picked up by the laboratory before the result is reported. The blood is warmed until the cells separate from each other, and quickly put through the machine while still warm.
The mean corpuscular hemoglobinconcentration, or MCHC, is a measure of the concentration of hemoglobin in a red bloodcell.
It is diminished ("hypochromic") in microcytic anemias, and normal ("normochromic") in macrocytic anemias (due to larger cell size, though the haemoglobin amount or MCH is high, the concentration remains normal).
It is calculated by dividing the hemoglobin by the hematocrit.
Mean corpuscular hemoglobinconcentration (abbreviated as MCHC) is an estimate of the concentration (amount) of hemoglobin in a given number of packed red bloodcells.
Hemoglobin is a substance in the blood that carries oxygen to the cells in the body from the lungs.
Concentration comes from the Latin word "con" meaning "together" and the Latin word "centrum" meaning "center." Put those words together and you have "together (in the) center." In sum, now you can see why the mean corpuscular hemoglobinconcentrationmeans the amount of hemoglobin in a given number of packed red bloodcells.
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