Differences in mortality on the basis of complete blood count in an unselected population at the emergency department

The objective of this descriptive study was to relate hematological parameters of patients visiting the emergency department (ED) to mortality. The study included 1698 adult patients visiting the ED for any reason who underwent blood gas analysis. The results of hemoglobin concentration, leukocyte count, and platelet count were related to mortality within 7 days after admittance to the hospital. When comparing survivors and nonsurvivors, age (mean, 54 versus 63 years, p < .0001) and leukocyte count (median, 10.8 versus 13.9 x 10 (9)/L, p < .0001) showed significant differences. Further analysis was performed by dividing the group of patients according to the reference range. This showed higher mortality in the groups of patients with leukocyte counts outside the reference range (4.0-10.0 x 10 (9)/L, p < .01) and in the group of patients with platelet counts below the reference range (150-450 x 10 (9)/L, p < .0001). High mortality is also seen in the group of women with hemoglobin concentrations outside the reference range (12.1-15.7 g/dL, p < .01), for men no difference was observed. In conclusion, our study shows clinically relevant differences in mortality in hematological parameters in an unselected population at the ED, irrespective of underlying pathology.