Rational Anemia Diagnostics and Therapy Control of Pediatric Patients Employing the Novel Hemaplot and Thomasplot

“Anemia” is one of the most frequent diagnoses during childhood. For the choice of the right therapy an exact diagnosis is a prerequisite. Due to numerous and rather diverse pathophysiological etiologies of anemia and different mechanisms of compensation of the organism, establishing the correct diagnosis might turn out to be rather difficult for the general practioner as well as for the hospital doctor. Within a prospective study the routine blood counts of 100 anemic pediatric patients were measured at ten time points per patient with SYSMEX XE-2100 blood analyzer including the parameters Hb, MCV, MCH, Ret-Hb, delta-Hb and RPI. Plasma samples were checked for transferrin, iron binding capacity, sTfR, Ferritin and CRP levels. The EXPERTviewer was used for transmitting the numerical and graphical data to the clinician. The “Hemaplot” (Ret-Hb versus delta-Hb) as well as the “Thomasplot” (Ret-Hb versus Ferritin-Index) and all regular scatterplots and histograms were conveyed. Preliminary data show that the Thomasplot and Hemaplot help to distinguish hyperregenerative anemias and nutritive or deficiency types. The plots also proved to be helpful in identifiying hyporegenerative as well as congenital and aquired forms of anemia. Thomasplot and Hemaplot might help to better understand pathophysiology of anemias and thus to make rational therapeutic decisions easier and more efficient.