• Tadeusz Osadnik, Joanna Strzelczyk, Michał Hawranek, Andrzej Lekston, Jarosław Wasilewski, Anna Kurek, Aleksander Rafał Gutowski, Krzysztof Wilczek, Krzysztof Dyrbuś, Marek Gierlotka, Andrzej Wiczkowski, Mariusz Gąsior, Andrzej Szafranek, and Lech Poloński.
• IIIrd Chair and Department of Cardiology, Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Medical Faculty in Zabrze, Ul, Marii Skłodowskiej Curie 9, 41-800, Zabrze, Poland. tadeusz.osadnik@sccs.pl.
• Bmc Cardiovasc Disor. 2013 Jan 1;13:113.

BackgroundData regarding the association between red cell distribution width (RDW) values and mortality in patients with stable coronary artery disease are scarce. We aimed to investigate the link between mortality and RDW in patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).MethodsWe analyzed 2550 consecutive patients with stable coronary artery disease who underwent PCI between 2007 and 2011 at our institution. The patients were divided into four groups according to RDW quartiles. The association between the RDW values and the outcomes was assessed using Cox proportional regression analysis after adjusting for clinical, echocardiographic, hemodynamic and laboratory data in the whole population and in subgroups stratified by gender, presence of diabetes, anemia or heart failure.ResultsIn the entire population, there was a stepwise relationship between RDW intervals and comorbidities. Patients with the highest RDW values were older and more often burdened with diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease. There was an almost 4-fold increase in mortality during an average of 2.5 years of follow-up between the group of patients with RDW values lower than 13.1% (25th percentile) and the group with RDW values higher than 14.1% (75th percentile), (4.3% vs. 17.1%, p < 0.0001). After adjusting for the covariates, RDW remained significantly associated with mortality in the whole cohort (HR-1.23 [95% CI (1.13-1.35), p < 0.0001]) and in the subgroups stratified by gender, age (over and under 75 years), presence of anemia, diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease.ConclusionHigher RDW values correspond to higher comorbidity burdens and higher mortality. RDW is an independent predictor of mortality in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

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