What does the corpuscular HGB mean?
Average corpuscular hemoglobin (HGB) is a laboratory study that is carried out to evaluate red blood cells. It is one of the many results referred to as part of a complete blood point of view, which is a commonly performed laboratory test. The evaluation of the amount of hemoglobin present in red blood cells is important because hemoglobin is responsible for the transfer of oxygen in the body. The levels of low diameter of corpuscular hemoglobin reflect the condition called microcytosis, while high levels correlate with macrocytosis. It is a scale of the average concentration of hemoglobin present in the red blood cell. MCH is reported as part of complete blood (CBC), a study that measures the number of white blood cells, red blood cells and plates present in the blood. The CBC provides a significant amount of information regarding red blood cells, including the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood, MCH, the average concentration of corpuscular hemoglobin (MCHC), the average corpuscular volume (MCV) and the width of red cells (RDW).
To understand why measurement of average corpuscular HGB is important, helps to understand the role that hemoglobin plays in the physiology of the body. Hemoglobin is a protein located in red blood cells and is responsible for the transfer of oxygen. Usually this protein lifts oxygen molecules in the lungs, transmits oxygen to distant parts of the body and throws it to use these cells as part of their metabolic processes. Without a sufficient amount of hemoglobin circulating in the blood, insufficient oxygen will be distributed throughout the body.
The average corpuscular HGB is usually low in a state called microcytosis that occurs when red blood cells are less than expected. Because the cells themselves are small, their average amount of hemoglobin is low. Many health conditions can cause microcytosis. The most common cause is anemia with iron deficiency, which has a low number of red blood cellsas a result of iron deficiency in the body. Another cause of microcytosis is thalassemia, a genetic disease that produces the body with abnormal hemoglobin.
At the other end of the spectrum, macrocytosis is associated with a high diameter of CorpusCular HGB. This condition occurs when red blood cells are larger than they should be. One of the common causes of macrocytosis is megaloblastic anemia, which has a low number of red blood cells due to lack of eating in vitamins such as folate or vitamin B12. Macrocytosis can also occur when the body is actively trying to produce new red blood cells and precursor cells called reticulocytes enter the body circulation. These reticulocytes are larger than ripe red blood cells.