AUTHOR=Karampitsakos Theodoros , Akinosoglou Karolina , Papaioannou Ourania , Panou Vassiliki , Koromilias Athanasios , Bakakos Petros , Loukides Stelios , Bouros Demosthenes , Gogos Charalampos , Tzouvelekis Argyrios 

TITLE=Increased Red Cell Distribution Width Is Associated With Disease Severity in Hospitalized Adults With SARS-CoV-2 Infection: An Observational Multicentric Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2020.616292

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2020.616292

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> There is an amenable need for clinically applicable biomarkers in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW) has been recently suggested as a prognostic biomarker for COVID-19.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> This was an observational study enrolling patients between February 26 and May 15 2020. We aimed to validate the association of the previously published RDW threshold of 14.5% with markers of disease progression and mortality.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A total number of 193 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were enrolled and analyzed. Median age was 61 years (95% CI: 58–64). Patients with baseline RDW ≥14.5% (<italic>n</italic> = 41, 19.2%) presented with more progressive disease compared to patients with baseline RDW &lt;14.5% (<italic>n</italic> = 156, 80.8%) as indicated by significant differences in maximum FiO2% during hospitalization (median: 100, 95% CI: 45.2–100, vs. 35, 95% CI: 31–40, <italic>p</italic> = 0.0001, respectively). Values of RDW ≥14.5% were also strongly associated with increased risk of mortality (HR: 4.1, 95% CI: 0.88–19.23), (<italic>p</italic> = 0.02).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Our study provides evidence to support reproducibility and validity of a specified cut-off threshold of RDW as biomarker of disease severity and mortality in patients with COVID-19.</p>