Evaluation of red blood cell distribution width in dogs with various illnesses

In humans, increased red blood cell distribution width (RDW) values are associated with higher morbidity and mortality in a variety of pathological processes. The main objective of this study was to evaluate RDW in dogs with a diverse range of pathologies. Clinical data from 276 dogs were retrospectively evaluated. Significantly higher RDW values were found in dogs with primary immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (P < 0.0001), immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (P < 0.0004), hyperadrenocorticism (P < 0.0001), hypothyroidism (P = 0.0220), hepatic vascular anomaly (P < 0.0001), pneumonia (P < 0.0001), chronic kidney disease (P = 0.0005), multi-centric lymphoma (P = 0.0002), and myxomatous mitral valve degeneration (P = 0.0032). However, there was extensive overlap with the values from healthy dogs, limiting the diagnostic value of RDW in this setting. Although RDW may have a role as a potential prognostic indicator, further studies would be necessary to address this.