Macrocytic anemia

Macrocytic anemia
Specialty	Hematology

Macrocytic anemia is a class of anemia characterized by the presence of predominantly larger-than-normal red blood cells (RBC, also known as erythrocytes) accompanied by low numbers of RBC and often also with insufficient hemoglobin content per cell. Macrocytic anemia occurs when – despite the larger cell size – such factors result in insufficient availability of hemoglobin for adequate oxygen transport (i.e., anemia).

Macrocytic anemia is considered to be a medical condition rather a specific disease. It has several causes that all produce the hematological characteristic known as macrocytosis (i.e. erythrocytes which tend to be too large in terms of their mean corpuscular volume). Some of these underlying conditions produce slightly different sets of appearances in blood cells that are detectable from red and white cell morphology, whereas others are only detectable with chemical testing. Treatment depends on severity and the underlying cause.