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The Intermountain Risk Score (including the red cell distribution width) predicts heart failure and other morbidity

Benjamin D Horne1, Heidi T May, Abdallah G Kfoury

  • 1Cardiovascular Department, Intermountain Medical Center, 5121 S. Cottonwood St., Salt Lake City, UT 84107, USA. benjamin.horne@imail.org

European Journal of Heart Failure
|August 14, 2010
PubMed

Insights

The Intermountain Risk Score (IMRS), derived from common blood tests, effectively predicts major clinical morbidities like heart failure and myocardial infarction, not just mortality. This score offers a low-cost method for early risk assessment and prevention strategies.

Area of Science:

  • Clinical Medicine
  • Cardiovascular Research
  • Predictive Analytics

Background:

  • The Intermountain Risk Score (IMRS) is established for mortality prediction using complete blood count (CBC) and basic metabolic profile.
  • Morbidity endpoints are often more amenable to clinical intervention than mortality.
  • The association of IMRS with morbidity requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if the Intermountain Risk Score (IMRS) is associated with clinical morbidity endpoints.
  • To explore the utility of IMRS beyond mortality prediction.

Main Methods:

  • A genome-wide association study-like design was employed.
  • Two independent cohorts of patients undergoing coronary angiography were used for initial evaluation and validation (n=3927 and n=10,413).
  • Statistical significance was assessed using Bonferroni correction (P ≤ 4.9 × 10⁻⁴).

Main Results:

  • IMRS significantly predicted multiple morbidity endpoints including heart failure (HF), coronary disease, myocardial infarction (MI), and atrial fibrillation in the first cohort.
  • IMRS also predicted HF readmission, incident HF, and incident MI.
  • All significant findings were successfully validated in the second patient cohort.

Conclusions:

  • The Intermountain Risk Score (IMRS) is associated with key morbidity endpoints that frequently lead to mortality.
  • The low-cost nature of its components (CBC and basic metabolic profile) suggests potential for widespread use in risk estimation.
  • Further research is needed to fully define the clinical utility of IMRS in preventing morbidity and mortality.
Abstract

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