Diagnosis of anaemia – possibilities and limits of the non-haematologist physician

Non-haematologist physicians are able to diagnose many cases of anaemia if they consider some suggestions on how to: 1) verify (very often to actualise) results of blood morphology and number of reticulocytes with microscopic analysis of peripheral blood smear picture should be done by a competent doctor; 2) diagnostics should use the following stages: I – morphologic classification, II establishing pathogenesis, and III searching for aetiology.

This article underlines the value of presenting the absolute number of reticulocytes not only for establishing pathogenesis (a low number strongly suggests low production of erythrocytes) but also can serve as an indicator for the necessity of blood transfusion. It can also positively verify diagnoses of deficient factors (an increase in the number reticulocytes shortly after the treatment). The author precisely delineates rules, boundaries, and chances of diagnosis of anaemia in an ambulatory setting or in a non-specialist hospital department.