Red Cell Distribution Width is Associated with 30-day Mortality in Patients with Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Red cell distribution width (RDW) has been associated with mortality and outcome in a wide variety of non-neurological and neurological diseases, namely in myocardial infarction and acute ischemic stroke, and the reason for this is not completely understood. We aimed to investigate RDW as a potential prognostic marker in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

This is a retrospective study of consecutive patients with acute non-traumatic ICH admitted to a single center during a 4-year period. We reviewed individual clinical records to collect demographic and baseline information, including RDW at admission, 3-month functional status, and incidence of death during follow-up. Baseline computed tomography imaging was reviewed to classify the location of ICH, and to measure ICH volume and perihematomal edema volume. Patients were divided according to quartile distribution of RDW (RDW-Q1-4).

The final study population consisted of 358 patients, median age 71 years (interquartile range [IQR] 60-80), 55% were male, and median Glasgow Coma Scale was 14 (IQR 10-15), with a mean follow-up of 17.6 months. Patients with higher RDW values were older (p = 0.003), more frequently presented with an active malignancy (p = 0.005), atrial fibrillation (p < 0.001), intraventricular hemorrhage (p = 0.048), and were anticoagulated (p < 0.001). Three-month functional independence was similar throughout RDW quartiles. RDW-Q4 was independently associated with increased 30-day mortality (adjusted odds ratio = 3.36, 95%CI = 1.48-7.62, p = 0.004), but not independently associated with increased mortality after 30 days (adjusted hazards ratio = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.29-1.73, p = 0.448).

RDW is a robust and independent predictor of 30-day mortality in non-traumatic ICH patients, and further studies to understand this association are warranted.