Etiologies and Outcomes of Normocytic Anemia in Children

Abstract

To characterize the evaluation and outcomes of children referred to pediatric hematology for normocytic anemia. Retrospective cohort study of children aged 0 to 21 years referred to a tertiary pediatric hematology clinic for normocytic anemia from 2019 through 2021. Normocytic anemia was defined as a low hemoglobin and normal mean corpuscular volume, per the referring laboratory reference range. Two-hundred seventy-one patients (48% female, median age 5.4 years) were included. The most common hematologic diagnoses included iron deficiency (n=90, 33%), statistical anemia (n=64, 24%), transient marrow suppression (n=36, 13%), and transient erythroblastopenia of childhood (TEC, n=19, 7%). There were 17 (6%) patients in whom anemia was thought to be secondary to a non-hematologic disorder and therefore were referred to another pediatric specialty. Sixteen patients (6%) had anemia which spontaneously resolved without an underlying etiology being identified. Aside from iron deficient patients, 35 (13%) had diagnoses requiring ongoing hematology care including TEC, hemolytic anemia, Diamond Blackfan Anemia, and abnormal beta globin traits. Two-hundred-fifty-one patients (93%) were discharged from hematology care after a median of 25 days (range 0-2124 days). Pediatric patients with normocytic anemia have diverse underlying etiologies with iron deficiency being most common. These data support initial management within the primary care setting including assessment of a serum ferritin, iron panel, and reticulocyte count, with only a subset of patients requiring ongoing subspecialty care.