Polycythemia, the opposite of anemia, is a condition in which there is an excess of red blood. 3 Symptoms Of High Levels Of Hemoglobin Or Red Blood Cells. A hematocrit range of 45 to 61 percent is considered normal for newborns while infants should have levels of 32 to 42 percent. A normal adult male shows an HCT of 40% to 54% and a female shows 36% to 48%. For women, the normal range is between 36.1 and 44.3 percent. Multiplying the ratio by 100 gives the accurate value, which is the accepted reporting style for HCT. As it is a ratio, it doesn’t have any unit. HCT calculation is by dividing the lengths of the packed RBC layer by the length of total cells and plasma. However, the principle of the test remains the same as the “macro-hematocrit” method. It is beneficial for patients from whom blood collection is difficult (e.g., pediatric patients/hypovolemia). It requires less quantity of blood as well as less time requirement for the testing procedure. This method has been succeeded by the “micro-hematocrit” method which uses a small capillary tube instead of a Wintrobe hematocrit tube. This method of determining HCT by Wintrobe hematocrit tube is known as the “macro-hematocrit” method.Ī Wintrobe tube is a narrow glass tube measuring 110-mm-long, with graduation from 0 to 100 mm in both ascending and descending order. From below upwards, the layers are - a layer of red blood cells (RBC), a layer of white blood cells(WBC) and platelets, and a layer of plasma at the top. After centrifugation, the component of blood separates into three distinct parts. In men, the normal hematocrit range is between 40-54 percent. What is hematocrit Hematocrit, also called HCT, is the volume of red blood cells compared to the total blood volume, which is made up of red blood cells and plasma. A glass tube and a centrifuge machine are sufficient to measure HCT. A normal hemoglobin range is between 12-18 g/dl, depending on gender. It is a simple test to identify conditions like anemia or polycythemia and also to monitor response to the treatment. Hence, it is also known and reported as a packed cell volume (PCV). The term "hematocrit (HCT)" originated from English “hemato-“ and Greek “krites.” HCT measures the volume of packed red blood cells (RBC) relative to whole blood.