Lippi G, Turcato G, Cervellin G, Sanchis-Gomar F. Red blood cell distribution width in heart failure: A narrative review. World J Cardiol 2018; 10(2): 6-14 [PMID: 29487727 DOI: 10.4330/wjc.v10.i2.6]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Giuseppe Lippi, MD, Professor, Section of Clinical Biochemistry, University Hospital of Verona, Piazzale L.A. Scuro 10, Verona 37134, Italy. giuseppe.lippi@univr.it
Research Domain of This Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Cardiol. Feb 26, 2018; 10(2): 6-14 Published online Feb 26, 2018. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v10.i2.6
Red blood cell distribution width in heart failure: A narrative review
Giuseppe Lippi, Gianni Turcato, Gianfranco Cervellin, Fabian Sanchis-Gomar
Giuseppe Lippi, Section of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Verona, Verona 37134, Italy
Gianni Turcato, Department of Emergency, Girolamo Fracastoro Hospital, San Bonifacio 37047, Italy
Gianfranco Cervellin, Department of Emergency, University Hospital of Parma, Parma 43126, Italy
Fabian Sanchis-Gomar, Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, United States
Fabian Sanchis-Gomar, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia and INCLIVA Biomedical Research Institute, Valencia 46010, Spain
Author contributions: Lippi G and Sanchis-Gomar F generated the tables and figures, and wrote the manuscript; Turcato G and Cervellin G contributed to editing, reviewing, and final approval of the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Giuseppe Lippi, MD, Professor, Section of Clinical Biochemistry, University Hospital of Verona, Piazzale L.A. Scuro 10, Verona 37134, Italy. giuseppe.lippi@univr.it
Telephone: +39-45-8124308
Received: January 7, 2018 Peer-review started: January 8, 2018 First decision: January 23, 2018 Revised: January 23, 2018 Accepted: February 5, 2018 Article in press: February 5, 2018 Published online: February 26, 2018
Abstract
The red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a simple, rapid, inexpensive and straightforward hematological parameter, reflecting the degree of anisocytosis in vivo. The currently available scientific evidence suggests that RDW assessment not only predicts the risk of adverse outcomes (cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, hospitalization for acute decompensation or worsened left ventricular function) in patients with acute and chronic heart failure (HF), but is also a significant and independent predictor of developing HF in patients free of this condition. Regarding the biological interplay between impaired hematopoiesis and cardiac dysfunction, many of the different conditions associated with increased heterogeneity of erythrocyte volume (i.e., ageing, inflammation, oxidative stress, nutritional deficiencies and impaired renal function), may be concomitantly present in patients with HF, whilst anisocytosis may also directly contribute to the development and worsening of HF. In conclusion, the longitudinal assessment of RDW changes over time may be considered an efficient measure to help predicting the risk of both development and progression of HF.
Core tip: The red blood cell distribution width is a simple, rapid, inexpensive and straightforward hematological parameter, reliably reflecting the degree of anisocytosis in vivo. The current epidemiological and biological evidence suggests that longitudinal assessment of red blood cell distribution width over time may be considered an efficient measure to help predicting the risk of both development and progression of heart failure.
