Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) measures which attribute of red blood cells?

Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) measures which attribute of red blood cells?

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

Answer: (B)

Mean Corpuscular Volume measures the average size of red blood cells. It’s calculated from hematocrit and red blood cell count and is expressed in femtoliters. Normal values are about 80–100 fL. This metric helps classify anemia by cell size: a low MCV indicates microcytosis (smaller than normal cells), while a high MCV indicates macrocytosis (larger than normal cells). It doesn’t tell you how many red cells there are (that’s the total RBC count), nor does it describe how much hemoglobin is in each cell (that’s mean corpuscular hemoglobin) or the hemoglobin concentration per cell volume (mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration).

Mean Corpuscular Volume measures the average size of red blood cells. It’s calculated from hematocrit and red blood cell count and is expressed in femtoliters. Normal values are about 80–100 fL. This metric helps classify anemia by cell size: a low MCV indicates microcytosis (smaller than normal cells), while a high MCV indicates macrocytosis (larger than normal cells). It doesn’t tell you how many red cells there are (that’s the total RBC count), nor does it describe how much hemoglobin is in each cell (that’s mean corpuscular hemoglobin) or the hemoglobin concentration per cell volume (mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration).