Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31807562›Full record

ReviewAnnals of translational medicine2019

The role of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) in cardiovascular risk assessment: useful or hype?

Cristiano Fava, Filippo Cattazzo, Zhi-De Hu, Giuseppe Lippi, Martina Montagnana

Open access · diamondAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Annals of translational medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
78citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
5.3field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

78 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 130 citations in OpenAlex.

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18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Cristiano FavaDepartment of Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Filippo CattazzoDepartment of Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Zhi-De HuDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot 010050, China.
Giuseppe LippiDepartment of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Clinical Biochemistry Section, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Martina MontagnanaDepartment of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Clinical Biochemistry Section, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
University of Verona · ITInner Mongolia Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) reflects erythrocyte size distribution, thus representing a reliable index of anisocytosis, widely used for the differential diagnosis of micro- and normocytic anaemias. Along with the large use in diagnostic hematology, RDW has been associated with presence and complications of a vast array of human pathologies during the last decades, including cardiovascular (CV) diseases. This article is hence aimed to provide an overview of important studies and systematic reviews with meta-analysis, in which RDW has been associated with CV events and mortality, in the attempt of establishing whether enough evidence exists for supporting its routine use in clinical practice. According to available data it seems reasonable to conclude that although the diagnostic specificity is low, and this measure is still plagued by important lack of standardization, RDW can be regarded as an index of enhanced patient fragility and higher vulnerability to adverse outcomes. Abnormal RDW values shall hence persuade physicians to broaden the diagnostic reasoning over anaemias, especially those due to malnutrition or malabsorption, encompassing a comprehensive assessment of traditional and non-traditional CV risk factors.

Indexed as

cardiovascular riskcoronary artery disease (CAD)mortalityprognosisRed blood cell distribution width (RDW)stroke

Identifiers

PMID31807562
PMCPMC6861793
OpenAlexW2976757012

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.