Red blood cell distribution width predicts survival in patients with Eisenmenger syndrome

Previous studies identified an independent relationship between red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and prognosis in patients with pulmonary hypertension of mixed etiologies and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. This study aimed to investigate the significance of RDW for predicting survival in patients with Eisenmenger syndrome (ES).

We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records and collected baseline data for patients newly diagnosed with ES in our hospital between January 2005 and October 2009. Follow-up data were collected periodically using a specifically designed network database until December 31, 2012. The end point was all-cause death.

A total of 109 patients with ES were included in the study. Twenty-one patients (19.3%) died during a median follow-up period of 4.2 years (interquartile range 3.7-5.0 years). Baseline RDW was significantly correlated with mixed venous oxygen saturation (r=-0.286, p=0.003), arterial oxygen saturation (r=-0.423, p<0.001), mean pulmonary arterial pressure (r=0.271, p=0.004) and total pulmonary resistance (r=0.465, p<0.001). The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates for all 109 patients were 94%, 87% and 78%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with RDW ≥13.9% had a lower survival rate than patients with RDW <13.9% (p=0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that RDW was an independent prognostic marker in ES, with a hazard ratio of 1.162 (95% CI 1.036-1.302; p=0.010).

Baseline RDW correlates with hemodynamics and is an independent prognostic marker in ES.