Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC) measures which attribute?

Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC) measures which attribute?

• A. Hemoglobin concentration per 100 ml of packed cells
• B. Hemoglobin per RBC
• C. Total RBC mass
• D. Platelet count

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that MCHC tells you how concentrated hemoglobin is inside the red blood cells—the amount of Hb per unit volume of packed red cells. It’s usually expressed as grams of Hb per deciliter of packed cells and is calculated from the hemoglobin level and the hematocrit (Hb divided by Hct). This makes MCHC a measure of Hb concentration within cells rather than the total Hb in the blood or the number of RBCs. That’s why the option describing hemoglobin concentration per 100 ml (per a volume of packed cells) best fits MCHC. It differs from the other options because it isn’t about Hb per red blood cell (that would be MCH), total RBC mass, or platelet count.

The main idea is that MCHC tells you how concentrated hemoglobin is inside the red blood cells—the amount of Hb per unit volume of packed red cells. It’s usually expressed as grams of Hb per deciliter of packed cells and is calculated from the hemoglobin level and the hematocrit (Hb divided by Hct). This makes MCHC a measure of Hb concentration within cells rather than the total Hb in the blood or the number of RBCs.

That’s why the option describing hemoglobin concentration per 100 ml (per a volume of packed cells) best fits MCHC. It differs from the other options because it isn’t about Hb per red blood cell (that would be MCH), total RBC mass, or platelet count.