This clinical study was carried out on 216 cases with anemia which was defined
according to the age-related hemoglobin levels among 2,515 children admitted to
Pediatric department, National Medical Center from July 1985 to May 1987
1) The incidence of anemia among pediatric inpatients was 8.6%
2) Male to female ratio was 1 : 0.8
3) The majority were in the age group of 1 month to 2 years. The severity of
anemia in each age groups, however, was not different significantly
4) Body weight percentiles on admission revealed that more than 55% of patients
were below the 50th percentile.
5) The causes of mild and moderate anemia were infectious diseases and hematologic
diseases in order. Among infectious diseases, respiratory diseases including pneumonia
were 41%, and among hematologic diseases, iron deficiency anemia was 71%, of which
most numbers were distributed in the age group of 1 month to 2 year comprising 71%
of causes in that age group.
6) The causes of severe anemia were acute leukemia, iron deficiency anemia, and
hemolytic anemia in order.
7) Among the cases that showed spontaneous recovery from anemia within 1 month,
acute inflammatory group which was crudely selected with positive serum C-reactive
protein, one of the most reliabale index for acute inflammation, showed an average
2.2gm% decrease in hemoglobin concentration in mean of 6 days and then 2.5gm% rise
in 9 days. Comparing to the CRP negative group by student-t distribution, the durations
of Hb. drop and Hb. rising were significantly longer statistically(p< 0.05).
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