How to diagnose favism

We can judge favism from the hemoglobin content in the blood, because this disease will cause a decrease in hemoglobin. In severe cases, it will lead to an increase in the number of nuclear red blood cells, and the symptoms will be the same as those of leukemia. To diagnose favism, we should use blood tests, urine tests and other methods to diagnose this disease. It is best for everyone to go to the hospital for examination.

1. Blood test: (1) The examination will reveal a sharp drop in the patient's hemoglobin. In severe cases, the level will drop below 10 g/L. (2) The red blood cell count will also decrease, and in severe cases the count may drop to below 0.5×1012/L. (3) The patient's reticulocyte count is significantly increased, generally >0.20. (4) If the patient undergoes a peripheral blood smear examination, the results may show an increase in nucleated red blood cells. (5) Patients may also have an increase in white blood cell count, which can reach (10-20)×109/L in more serious cases, similar to a leukemia reaction; (6) Platelet count is normal or increased.

2. Bone marrow examination findings: (1) The patient’s erythrocyte and granulocyte cell lines will show significant proliferation, especially in younger children, where the granulocyte proliferation will be more obvious. (2) The results of the patient's erythrocyte examination were mainly characterized by abnormal proliferation of middle and late immature erythrocytes.

3. Urine examination: (1) If a patient with favism has an attack, the urine will mainly be dark in color, such as red wine color, meat washing water color, soy sauce color, strong tea color, yellow, etc. (2) The positive rate of urine occult blood test results has been found to be as high as 60% to 70% in clinical practice. (3) Urine examination also showed the presence of protein, red blood cells and casts, and both urobilinogen and urobilinogen were positive. (4) The serum free hemoglobin in urine will also increase significantly. The level of a substance called haptoglobin will decrease. (5) The activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in urine will decrease.

In addition, female patients with favism must test their hemolysis values ​​in advance. If the test results are normal, they can get pregnant normally, but they also need to pay attention to relevant prenatal examinations after pregnancy. At the same time, pregnant women with favism can also confirm whether the fetus has this disease by checking blood, urine, liver, kidney, heart and lung function.