• Daniel Dankl, Richard Rezar, Behrooz Mamandipoor, Zhichao Zhou, Sarah Wernly, Bernhard Wernly, and Venet Osmani.
• Department of Anaesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine, Paracelsus Medical University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
• Med Princ Pract. 2022 Jan 1; 31 (2): 187-194.

BackgroundMortality in sepsis remains high. Studies on small cohorts have shown that red cell distribution width (RDW) is associated with mortality. The aim of this study was to validate these findings in a large multicenter cohort.MethodsWe conducted this retrospective analysis of the multicenter eICU Collaborative Research Database in 16,423 septic patients. We split the cohort in patients with low (≤15%; n = 7,129) and high (>15%; n = 9,294) RDW. Univariable and multivariable multilevel logistic regressions were used to fit regression models for the binary primary outcome of hospital mortality and the secondary outcome intensive care unit (ICU) mortality with hospital unit as random effect. Optimal cutoffs were calculated using the Youden index.ResultsPatients with high RDW were more often older than 65 years (57% vs. 50%; p < 0.001) and had higher Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) IV scores (69 vs. 60 pts.; p < 0.001). Both hospital (adjusted odds ratios [aOR] 1.18; 95% CI: 1.16-1.20; p < 0.001) and ICU mortality (aOR 1.16; 95% CI: 1.14-1.18; p < 0.001) were associated with RDW as a continuous variable. Patients with high RDW had a higher hospital mortality (20 vs. 9%; aOR 2.63; 95% CI: 2.38-2.90; p < 0.001). This finding persisted after multivariable adjustment (aOR 2.14; 95% CI: 1.93-2.37; p < 0.001) in a multilevel logistic regression analysis. The optimal RDW cutoff for the prediction of hospital mortality was 16%.ConclusionWe found an association of RDW with mortality in septic patients and propose an optimal cutoff value for risk stratification. In a combined model with lactate, RDW shows equivalent diagnostic performance to Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score and APACHE IV score.© 2022 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

17 keywords...

hide…