Is Elevated Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration Valuable for Neonatal Hereditary Spherocytosis Screening?

Introduction: the elevated mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (mchc) were reported in neonates with hereditary spherocytosis.aims: the aim of this study was to assess the reliability of elevated mchc as a screening test for the diagnosis of hereditary spherocytosis in newborns.methods and material: we revised records of 1301 neonates with diagnosis of severe hyperbilirubinemia from september 23, 2009 to september 22, 2011. the cases with mchc ? 36g% were selected. osmotic fragility test and cell blood counts were per-formed for cases that were enrolled in the study.statistical analysis used: statistical analyses were performed using statistical package for social sciences, version 15.0 (spss, inc., chicago, il, usa). chi-square test and t-correlation analysis were used for statistical analysisresults: out of a total 1301neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia, 59 of them had mchc ? 36 g%. fifty two of 59 selected neonates were finally studied. all of them had mchc ? 35.7g% and a normal osmotic fragility test.conclusions: elevated mchc is not a reliable screening test for the diagnosis of he-reditary spherocytosis in neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia or anemia.