Preoperative Red Cell Distribution Width as a Predictor of Mortality in Patients After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

İrfan Taşoğlu, Osman Turak, Fırat Özcan, Yunus Nazlı, Ersin Kadiroğulları, Murat Songur, Doğan Sert, Metin Yılmaz, Aslı Demir, Alper Uzun

Keywords: Coronary artery bypass grafting; mortality; morbidity; red cell distribution width.

Abstract

Introduction: We hypothesized that the red cell distribution width (RDW) would predict the outcome of surgical revascularization of patients with coronary artery disease. Materials and Methods: Ninety four patients with severe coronary artery disease who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting were included in this study. A total of 94 patients were divided into tertiles based on their preprocedural RDW (mean RDW: tertile 1, 12.68 ± 0.60; tertile 2: 13.64 ± 0.49; tertile 3, 16.47 ± 2.04). Results: There were a total of 18 (19.1%) deaths over a mean follow-up of 51 months. Patients with a high RDW showed the highest mortality (34%) as compared to patients with medium (10%) and low RDW (13%). In multivariable regression modeling, RDW > 14.6 was a significant independent predictor of five year outcome in mortality. Conclusion: In conclusion, elevated preprocedural RDW in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting is associated with increased risk of long-term mortality.