what is the difference between hemoglobin and mchc?
Hb vs. MCHC
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and Hb concentration are both expressed as g Hb/dL. So, what’s the difference?
Hb is expressed as g/whole blood, MCHC as g/volume of packed RBCs. The only difference is the subtraction of plasma volume in the case of the MCHC.
In the graphic, we have 12.3 g Hb per dL or 100 ml of whole blood.
The Hct of 37.3 tells us that all of the 12.3 g of Hb is contained in 37.3 ml pure/packed RBCs, giving us a revised corpuscular Hb concentration of 33 g/dL.
These relationships are defined by the equation:
MCHC = Hb/Hct
William Aird
