A 62-year-old man presents with pallor, fatigue, and dyspnea on exeion. A complete blood count reveals microcytic hypochromic anemia. The likely cause of this hematological finding is?
- Iron deficiency anemia is the most common cause of hypochromic microcytic anemia - In men and postmenopausal women, the usual cause of IDA is occult gastrointestinal blood loss (due to helminthic infestations, GI malignancies, etc). warrants a complete workup, including GI endoscopy to detect the source of the bleeding. - In young women, the cause is most often related to menstrual blood loss (increased iron requirement), compounded by deficient dietary intake.
Increased iron requirement
Gastrointestinal bleeding
Hypersplenism
Hemolytic anemia
Iron deficiency anemia