Red blood cell distribution width as a risk factor for inhospital mortality in obstetric patients admitted to an intensive care unit: a single centre retrospective cohort study

Relationship Between High-Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol and Red Cell Distribution Width in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

Background

A high red cell distribution width (RDW), which indicates ongoing inflammation, and low levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) are associated with increased mortality and morbidity in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Recent studies have suggested that HDL-C possesses anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, which may explain its anti-atherogenic properties. This study aims to determine the relationship between HDL-C levels and RDW in patients with CAD.

Materials and methods

This cross-sectional study was performed on 120 patients with CAD from July 2020 to June 2021 in the Hematology Department of Chughtai Lab Lahore. Patients were graded according to the degree of coronary artery stenosis as follows: Grade 1,30%-50%; Grade 2, 51%-70%; and Grade 3,>70%. The HDL-C level was measured from venous blood samples by a fully automated Abbot Alinity analyzer. The RDW was measured by Sysmex XN-5000. The sample size was calculated using the Select Statistics calculator. The mean RDW and HDL-C of the patients were calculated, and correlation analyses were performed using the Pearson correlation coefficient.

Results

The HDL-C level was inversely related to the RDW. Of the 120 patients, 38, 44, and 38 had Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3 stenosis, respectively. The mean HDL-C level and RDW were 30.58 ±3.77 mg/dL and 16.04% ±1.66%, respectively. The value of r was −0.8622 (strongly negative). Data were stratified based on the degree of stenosis. The values of r in Grades 1, 2, and 3 were −0.43 (moderately negative), −0.604 (moderately negative), and −0.27 (weakly negative), respectively.

Conclusion

The RDW can be used as an additional marker to determine the disease status in CAD patients.

Association Between Elevated RBC Distribution Width and Multiple Organ Dysfunction in Pediatric Critical Illness

OBJECTIVES

RBC distribution width, a part of the complete blood count, has been shown in several published studies to be a strong biomarker of adverse outcomes. We sought to determine the association between admission RBC distribution width value and clinical outcomes including multiple organ dysfunction, mechanical ventilation days, PICU length of stay, and hospital length of stay in children admitted to the PICU.

DESIGN

Single center, retrospective study.

SETTING

A tertiary pediatric hospital in the United States.

PATIENTS

All subjects admitted to the PICU from 2016 to 2017.

EXCLUSIONS

Greater than 21 years old, pregnancy, and history of packed RBC transfusion within 120 days prior to admission.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

One-thousand five-hundred one subjects were screened and 856 were included in data analysis. RBC distribution width value was categorized into four separate groups: group I (RBC distribution width < 13.4%), group II (13.4-14.3%), group III (14.4-15.7%), and group IV (RBC distribution width > 15.7%). Increased RBC distribution width at admission was associated with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in the first 7 days (group I = 11.8% vs group IV = 30.1%; p < 0.0001) (odds ratio, 3.22; 95% CI, 1.95-5.30; p < 0.0001). Increased RBC distribution width was associated with increased median mechanical ventilation duration (group IV = 7 d vs group I = 5 d; p = 0.001), median hospital length of stay (group IV = 13 d vs group I = 5 d; p < 0.0001), and median PICU length of stay (group IV = 4 d vs group I = 3 d; p = 0.01). Mortality was not statistically associated with admission RBC distribution width (p = 0.12).

CONCLUSIONS

PICU admission RBC distribution width values greater than 15.7% obtained upon admission to the PICU in patients who have not received a RBC transfusion are associated with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in the first 7 days of admission, increased duration of mechanical ventilation, and increased hospital length of stay.

Elevated Red Cell Distribution Width Is Independently Associated With a Higher Frailty Risk Among 2,932 Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Background: Older adults are at an increased risk of frailty, but laboratory surrogates for identifying frailty in this population remain controversial and clinicians frequently encounter difficulty during frailty screening. We examined whether having a high red cell distribution width (RDW) was associated with an increased probability of frailty in older adults.

Methods: We prospectively included community-dwelling older adults between 2013 and 2016 from a single institute, with their clinical features/laboratory parameters documented. We used the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures index (malnutrition, poor physical performance, and fatigue) to delineate frailty, and harnessed multiple logistic regression to investigate whether having a high RDW (≥ 15.7%) was associated with an increased risk of having frailty among these participants.

Results: A total of 2,932 older adults (mean 73.5 ± 6.7 years; 44.6% male) were included, among whom 113 (3.9%) and 76 (2.6%) had a high RDW and presented frailty, respectively. Older adults with a high RDW were more likely to be frail (p = 0.002) and had more positive SOF items than those with normal RDW levels (p = 0.013). Those with a high RDW exhibited a significantly higher risk of having frailty (odds ratio [OR] 2.689, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.184–6.109) compared to those without. Sensitivity analyses using RDW as a continuous variable similarly showed that RDW levels were positively associated with frailty risk (OR 1.223 per 1% RDW higher).

Conclusions: In older adults, higher RDW can be regarded as a frailty indicator, and the readiness in RDW assessment supports its screening utility.

Red Cell Distribution Width as a Novel Prognostic Marker in Multiple Clinical Studies

Red cell distribution width (RDW), which is a quantitative method applied for the measurement of anisocytosis, is the most reliable and inexpensive method for differentiation of iron deficiency anemia and thalassemia trait. An increase in its rate reflects a great heterogeneity in the size of red blood cells (RBCs). Recent studies have shown a significant relationship between RDW and the risk of morbidity and mortality in patients with multiple diseases. A strong association is established between changes in RDW and the risk of adverse outcome in patients with heart failure in multiple studies. In this review, we try to focus on the association and correlation between the increase in RDW and different outcomes of common diseases that may be related to RDW and based on the results of various studies, we are trying to introduce RDW as a diagnostic indicator for these diseases.

Pregnancy-Related ICU Admissions From 2008 to 2016 in China: A First Multicenter Report

Objectives:

To identify the key points for improving severe maternal morbidity by analyzing pregnancy-related ICU admissions in Beijing.

Design:

This was a retrospective, multicenter cohort study.

Setting:

Three ICUs in tertiary hospitals in Beijing.

Patients:

A total of 491 severe maternal cases in any trimester of pregnancy or within 42 days of delivery were reviewed between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2016.

Interventions:

None.

Measurements and Main Results:

Among 491 obstetric ICU admissions (median Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, 2) out of 87,850 hospital deliveries (a frequency of 5.6 admissions per 1,000 deliveries), the leading diagnoses were postpartum hemorrhage (170; 34.62%), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (156; 31.77%), and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases (78; 15.9%). Comparing 2008–2011 to 2012–2016, the rates of maternal mortality (2.5% vs 1.9%; p = 0.991) and fetal loss (8.5% vs 8.6%; p = 0.977) did not decrease significantly, whereas the rates of ICU admission (3.05% vs 7.85%; p trends < 0.001) and postpartum hemorrhage (23% vs 38.5%; p = 0.002) increased. Hypertensive disorder (150/156; 96.2% transferred to the ICU postpartum, 24/28 women with fetal loss transferred from lower-level hospitals) was an independent maternal factor associated with fetal loss, and infections were the leading cause of maternal death (6/10) in the ICU.

Conclusions:

Our study highlights the increasing rate of intensive care admissions for postpartum hemorrhage. Improving prenatal care quality for pregnancy-induced hypertension and sepsis at lower-level hospitals may improve maternal and fetal outcomes. Specifically, providing more effective regional cooperation before transfer and shifting patients who require continuous surveillance but not necessarily intensive care to a transitional ward in a tertiary hospital would provide more ICU beds for more prenatal intensive care for the most complex medical conditions.

Red blood cell distribution width provides additional prognostic value beyond severity scores in adult critical illness

BACKGROUND

The prognostic value of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) in critical illness remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of on-admission RDW for in-hospital and 4-year mortality in adults with critical illness.

METHODS

This is a retrospective cohort study from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC III) database (version 1.4). Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for the first time were included. Their on-admission RDW and severity scores were extracted with the Structured Query Language (SQL). The patients were categorized into a training set and a validation set. The relation of RDW to in-hospital and 4-year all-cause mortality was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, Kaplan-Meier curve, Cox model, net reclassification index (NRI), integrated discriminatory index (IDI) and nomogram.

RESULTS

A total of 36,532 patients (21,090 in training and 15,442 in validation set) were included in this study. Increased RDW was significantly associated with higher in-hospital and 4-year mortality. The prognostic value of RDW for 4-year mortality was independent of conventional severity scores. Using conventional severity scores as covariates the continuous NRI and IDI of RDW for in-hospital mortality were around 0.3-0.5 and 0.01-0.03, respectively. For 4-year mortality the NRI was around 0.2-0.3 and IDIs was around 0.03-0.08.

CONCLUSIONS

Admission RDW predicts both in-hospital and 4-year mortality in adult patients with critical illness admitted in the ICU, and can provide additional prognostic values beyond conventional clinical severity scores.