Objective
Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is reported to be an independent predictor of outcome in adults with a variety of conditions. We sought to determine if RDW is associated with morbidity or mortality in critically ill children.
Design
Retrospective observational study.
Setting
Tertiary pediatric intensive care unit.
Patients
All admissions to Saint Louis Children’s Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit between 1/1/2005 and 12/31/2012.
Interventions
We collected demographics, laboratory values, hospitalization characteristics and outcomes. We calculated the relative change in RDW (R-RDW) from admission (A-RDW) to the highest RDW during the first 7 days of hospitalization. Our primary outcome was ICU mortality or use of ECMO as a composite. Secondary outcomes were ICU- and ventilator-free days.
Measurements and main results
We identified 3,913 eligible subjects with an estimated mortality (by PIM2) of 2.94±9.25% and an actual ICU mortality of 2.91%. For the study cohort, A-RDW was 14.12±1.89% and R-RDW was +2.63±6.23%. On univariate analysis, both A-RDW and R-RDW correlated with mortality or use of ECMO (OR=1.19 [95% CI: 1.12–1.27] and OR=1.06 [95% CI: 1.04–1.08], respectively, p<0.001). After adjusting for confounding variables, including severity of illness, both A-RDW (OR=1.13, 95% CI 1.03–1.24) and R-RDW (OR=1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.07) remained independently associated with ICU mortality or use of ECMO. A-RDW and R-RDW both weakly correlated with fewer ICU-free (r2=0.038) and ventilator-free days, (r2=0.05), (p<0.001).
Conclusions
Independent of illness severity in critically ill children, A-RDW is associated with ICU mortality and morbidity. These data suggest that RDW may be a biomarker for RBC injury that is of sufficient magnitude to influence critical illness outcome, possibly via oxygen delivery impairment.