Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC)

What it measures

The average hemoglobin concentration within the red cell volume. It flags hypochromia and is a sensitive quality indicator for analyzer errors.

Specimen and preparation

• Specimen: Whole blood (EDTA)
• Tube: Lavender top

Reference range

Reference ranges differ between laboratories, methods and populations. Always use the range printed on your own lab report.

Causes of high values

• Hereditary spherocytosis
• Autoimmune hemolysis with spherocytes
• Cold agglutinins (artifact)
• Lipemia or hemolysis in the sample (artifact)

Causes of low values

• Iron deficiency
• Thalassemias
• Sideroblastic anemia

Method

Calculated by analyzer (Hb/Hct × 100)

Good to know

An MCHC above about 37 g/dL is rarely real apart from spherocytosis; warm the sample to 37 °C and check for lipemia before reporting.

Related tests