COMPLETE BLOOD COUNT-DERIVED INDICES FOR DETECTING LOW HEMOGLOBINIZATION IN BLOOD DONOR CANDIDATES

Anton C.; Aro P.; Paredes R.; Sánchez-Jacinto B.; Tokumura C. · Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana (2026) · DOI: 10.25176/rfmh.v26i3.7228

Resumen

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the microcytic anemia factor (MAF) and low hemoglobin density (LHD%) for identifying hemoglobinization abnormalities consistent with iron-restricted erythropoiesis, using Ret-He <28 pg as the functional reference standard, in blood donor candidates. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study was conducted, including 227 blood donor candidates evaluated at the Hemotherapy and Blood Bank Service of Hospital Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru. Participants were classified according to Ret-He <28 pg and Ret-He ≥28 pg. MAF and LHD% were calculated from complete blood count parameters. Diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity were estimated. Results: Overall, 17.2% (39/227) of blood donor candidates had Ret-He <28 pg. MAF showed an AUC of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.91–0.98), with an optimal cutoff value of ≤9.45, a sensitivity of 76.9%, and a specificity of 97.9%. LHD% showed an AUC of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.89–0.97), with an optimal cutoff value of >5.60, a sensitivity of 92.3%, and a specificity of 84.6%. No statistically significant difference was observed between the two ROC curves. Conclusions: MAF and LHD% showed good diagnostic performance for identifying low reticulocyte hemoglobinization in blood donor candidates. LHD% showed a more favorable screening profile because of its higher sensitivity, whereas MAF showed higher specificity. © Artículo publicado por la Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana de la Universidad Ricardo Palma. Es un artículo de acceso abierto, distribuido bajo los términos de la Licencia Creative Commons: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), que permite el uso no comercial, distribución y reproducción en cualquier medio, siempre que la obra original sea debidamente citada. Para uso comercial, por favor póngase en contacto con revista.medicina@urp.pe.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia