Red blood cell distribution with in patients With chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Body: Bacgraund: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a newly recognized risk marker in patients with established CVD. It is unknown whether RDW is associated with in COPD patients. Aims: To study value of RDW in patients with COPD and to compare the value of this measurement with cardiac, respiratory, and hemotological status. Method: Two hundred five patients patients with stable COPD and 110 healthy controls cases were enrolled in the study. Demographic, clinical, echocardiographic, and laboratory characteristics were registered in COPD patient. Results: In the overall patients, the RDW level had a mean value of 15.1± 2.1. The RDW values were higher in the COPD group than in the controls (p< 0.001). RDW was positively correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP) (p= 0.008), right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) (P< 0.001), presence of CVD (p<0.01) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) (P= 0.03). In multivariable logistic regression, the presence of high RDW was the only parameter independently predicting RVD in patients with COPD (odds ratio, 2.098; P = .017). Conclusion: RDW may be used to identify COPD patients with RV failure. RDW is independently associated with cardiovascular disease in patients with COPD.