The Clinical Application of RDW in Predicting the Severity of Liver Cirrhosis

This study aims to explore the clinical significance of RDW (Red Cell Distribution Width) in patients with liver cirrhosis.

For this retrospective analysis, a total of 355 patients with liver cirrhosis were collected and divided into three groups according to the Child-Pugh classification: Group A (132 cases), Group B (113 cases), and Group C (110 cases). Additionally, 88 healthy controls were included. Various indicators, including total bilirubin, albumin, ALT, serum creatinine, INR, AST, and RDW were detected to observe the changes in these indicators among different grades of liver cirrhosis and the characteristics of their ROC curves.

In the liver cirrhosis group, the levels of total bilirubin (TB), ALT, AST, and RDW were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group (p < 0.05). ALT and RDW increased progressively from Child-Pugh A to C grades, with statistically significant differences between groups (p < 0.05). The area under the ROC curve for RDW was 0.773, with a sensitivity of 94.1% and a specificity of 76.2% for diagnosing liver cirrhosis. RDW's diagnostic efficacy was second only to ALT, comparable to AST, and higher than albumin, PLT, INR, and TB.

RDW is correlated with the degree of liver damage and closely related to the clinical grading of liver cirrhosis. Combining RDW with traditional liver cirrhosis indicators such as AST and ALT can help predict the prognosis of liver cirrhosis.