Study on the distribution width of red blood cells in patients with chronic heart failure

Abstract

Objective Red cell distribution width (RDW) has been shown to be associated with degree of chronic heart failure (CHF). This was a retrospective study that characterized predictive values of baseline RDW to assess severity of CHF, repeated admission. Methods Hematological and biochemical parameters were obtained from 179 patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) CHF class Ⅰ(n=44), Ⅱ(n=39), Ⅲ (n=41), and Ⅳ(n=55). Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were used for assessing predictive values. Results RDW increased significantly in class Ⅲ and Ⅳcompared with class Ⅰ(14.3±2.3% and 14.3±1.7% vs. 12.9±0.8%, P<0.01). Areas under ROCs (AUCs) of RDW, N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-ProBNP) for class IV HF were 0.817 and 0.840. Conclusions RDW increased significantly in classⅢ andⅣpatients. Key words: Red cell distribution width; Chronic heart failure; Predictive value