Blood and lab tests
What Does MCHC Mean on a Blood Test?
MCHC · say it: M-C-H-CAlso written: mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, mean cell hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration
Short answer
MCHC shows how concentrated hemoglobin is inside your red blood cells, taking the size of each cell into account.
What it means
MCHC stands for mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration. It describes how densely packed red blood cells are with hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen. It is worked out from the hemoglobin level and the hematocrit, which is the share of blood made up of red cells.
MCHC is one of the red cell indices on a complete blood count (CBC). It changes less than the other indices, so labs and doctors take note when it moves. A low MCHC can go with cells that look pale under the microscope. A high MCHC is less common and sometimes reflects how the sample behaved in the machine, so the lab may add a comment or recheck it.
MCHC is not the same as MCH. MCH is the amount of hemoglobin in each cell; MCHC is that amount compared with the cell's size. Pale-looking cells are described as "hypochromic" on some reports.
Where you may see it
- The red cell indices on a CBC, usually after MCV and MCH
- Lab comments such as "MCHC raised, sample warmed and rerun"
- Blood film reports that mention hypochromic cells
📄 How it looks on a report
MCHC 37.2 g/dL H Comment: sample warmed and repeated
🙅 What it does not mean
- A high MCHC is not always about your blood itself. Red cells clumping together in a cold sample, or a very fatty sample, can affect the machine reading.
- MCHC does not tell you how many red cells you have. It describes what is inside each one.
- On its own, a single MCHC flag is not a diagnosis. Your doctor reads it together with the rest of your blood count.
🗒️ Questions to ask your doctor
🧾 Reports where you will see “MCHC”
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🔗 Read more from trusted sources
- “MCHC” on MedlinePlus ↗
US National Library of Medicine
- MedlinePlus lab test guides ↗
US National Library of Medicine
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General information about a medical word, not advice about your own results. Ask the clinician who ordered the test what it means for you.