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Physiologic Anemia of Infancy

See Also
1. Pediatric Anemia
Definition
1. Normal Hemoglobin decrease in young infants
Physiology
1. Hemoglobin drops to low point at age 6 to 8 weeks
2. Erythropoietin nadir drops Hemoglobin
  1. Term Infants: Hemoglobin drops to 9-11 g/dl
  2. Preterm Infants: Hemoglobin drops to 7-9 g/dl
Differential Diagnosis
1. See Normocytic Anemia
2. Human Parvovirus B19 (Fifth Disease)
3. Hemolytic Anemia (e.g. G6PD Deficiency)
Management
1. No work-up or treatment unless Hgb lower than expected
References
1. Oblender in Daechner (1991) Pediatrics, p. 283
2. Irwin (2001) Am Fam Physician 64(8):1379

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 6/1/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.