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By Mayo Clinic staffYour doctor may order a hematocrit test as a part of a complete blood count (CBC). The proportion of red blood cells compared with all blood cells may help your doctor make a diagnosis or monitor your response to a treatment.
A lower than normal proportion of red blood cells may indicate:
- An insufficient supply of healthy red blood cells (anemia)
- A large number of white blood cells — usually a very small portion of your blood — due to leukemia, lymphoma or other disorders of white blood cells.
A higher than normal proportion of red blood cells may indicate a disorder, such as polycythemia vera, that causes your body to produce too many red blood cells.
- Fischbach FT, et al. Manual of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests. Online ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008.
- McPherson RA, et al, eds. Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. 21st ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007.
- Laboratory reference values. Hematocrit. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; Nov. 2008.
