Etiologic evaluation of male patients diagnosed with anemia in the first consultation of the hematology department

Aims: Anemia is a decrease in hemoglobin (Hb) levels below the normal values determined by gender. Since anemia is a laboratory finding, its etiology must be investigated. The present study aimed to investigate the etiologic spectrum of male patients diagnosed with anemia in the first consultation of a tertiary hospital hematology department. Methods: This study was conducted with male patients who were consulted at İnönü University, Turgut Özal Medical Center, adult hematology department between the dates of 2010-2015. Adult male patients aged 18 years and older, who were diagnosed with anemia in the first consultation were included in the study. Hb levels under 13 g/dl in the complete blood count were accepted as anemia criteria. The study was carried out retrospectively by examining the records of the hospital automation system. Results: The records of a total number of 7840 adult male patients were examined and 473 (6%) of them were found to have anemia when they first consulted in the hematology department. Iron deficiency was the most common etiological cause with the number of 97 patients (20.5%). In the first consultation; malign diseases were found in 50.3% (238), and benign diseases were found in 49.7% (235) of the patients, as the etiologic causes of the anemia. Multiple myeloma (MM) was found to be the most common malignant disease with a rate of 26.5% (63 patients), and isolated iron deficiency was found to be the most common benign disease with a rate of 41.3 % (97 patients); among the etiologic factors or anemia. Conclusion: In our study, malignant diseases were detected as the etiological cause in more than half of the adult male patients with anemia in their first consultation. We think that it is important to keep this situation in mind in the etiology of anemias, especially considering the profile of patients referred to tertiary hospitals.