Red cell distribution width and inappropriateness of left ventricular mass in patients with untreated essential hypertension

PLoS One. 2015 Mar 20;10(3):e0120300. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120300. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was suggested to be an important risk factor for hypertensive vascular complications. Previous studies had also shown that red cell distribution width (RDW) was associated with morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease. However, few have yet investigated possible association between RDW and LVH. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between LVH and RDW levels in hypertensive patients.

Methods: Physical examination, laboratory tests and echocardiography were conducted in 330 untreated newly diagnosed hypertensive patients attending the cardiology consultation unit at the Anzhen Hospital of Beijing. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to verify the independent association between RDW and LVH.

Results: 174 patients without LVH and 156 patients with LVH were rolled in the study. The patients with LVH had higher mean SBP, albumin to creatinine ratio, total cholesterol, RDW and fasting glucose compared with non-LVH group. The mean HDL-cholesterol level was significantly lower in patients with LVH than patients without LVH. The multiple logistic regression model suggested that patients with a higher RDW level were more likely to be LVH (OR=2.187, 95%CI: 1.447-3.307, P<0.001). Other predictive factors for LVH were mean SBP, serum creatinine, glucose level. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves indicated area under the curve was 0.688(95%CI: 0.635-0.737, P<0.001) with a cut-off value of 12.9, the RDW predicted LVH status among hypertensive patients with a sensitivity of 72.4% and a specificity of 60.3%.

Conclusions: The higher RDW level was observed in the LVH group compared with the non-LVH group. RDW might be associated with LVH in hypertensive patients. These data highlight the role of RDW as a predictor of organ damage in essential hypertensive patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Erythrocyte Indices*
  • Essential Hypertension
  • Female
  • Heart Ventricles / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Hypertension / blood*
  • Hypertension / complications
  • Hypertension / pathology
  • Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / blood
  • Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / complications
  • Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / pathology
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Organ Size
  • ROC Curve

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Graduate Innovation Project of Hunan Province (CX2014B097), the fundamental research funds for the central universities of central south university (2014zzts069), and the Hunan Province Science and Technology Project (2014SK2013). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.