Mean corpuscular volume
Average volume of a red blood cell, which sometimes helps in diagnosis / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Mean corpuscular volume?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The mean corpuscular volume, or mean cell volume (MCV), is a measure of the average volume of a red blood corpuscle (or red blood cell). The measure is obtained by multiplying a volume of blood by the proportion of blood that is cellular (the hematocrit), and dividing that product by the number of erythrocytes (red blood cells) in that volume. The mean corpuscular volume is a part of a standard complete blood count.
Mean corpuscular volume | |
---|---|
Purpose | MCV measurement that allows classification as either a microcytic anemia, normocytic anemia or macrocytic anemia |
In patients with anemia, it is the MCV measurement that allows classification as either a microcytic anemia (MCV below normal range), normocytic anemia (MCV within normal range) or macrocytic anemia (MCV above normal range). Normocytic anemia is usually deemed so because the bone marrow has not yet responded with a change in cell volume. It occurs occasionally in acute conditions, namely blood loss and hemolysis.
If the MCV was determined by automated equipment, the result can be compared to RBC morphology on a peripheral blood smear, where a normal RBC is about the size of a normal lymphocyte nucleus. Any deviation would usually be indicative of either faulty equipment or technician error, although there are some conditions that present with high MCV without megaloblastic cells.
For further specification, it can be used to calculate red blood cell distribution width (RDW). The RDW is a statistical calculation made by automated analyzers that reflects the variability in size and shape of the RBCs.