Abstract:
Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is mainly caused by atherosclerosis and its complications. Red
blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a numerical measure of the variability in size of circulating erythrocytes.
Several studies reported a strong, independent relation between higher levels of RDW, hematocrit (Hct), and
the risk of death and cardiovascular events in people with prior CAD. We tested the hypothesis that RDW, Hct,
and other red blood corpuscle (RBC) indices are associated with CAD. Hence, we measured RDW, Hct, and
other RBC indices in AMI and stable CAD (SCAD) and compared them with age‐ and sex‐matched controls.
Objectives: To study the changes in RDW and RBC indices in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and SCAD
and compare them with age‐ and sex‐matched controls.
Materials and Methods: This was a comparative study of 128 subjects (39 patients with AMI, 24 patients
with SCAD, and 65 controls). Venous sample were drawn from AMI subjects on admission (within 6 h of
chest pain) and collected in standardized ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) sample tubes. RDW and
RBC indices were assayed within 30 min of blood collection, using Sysmex KX21‐N autoanalyzer. Venous
samples were also drawn from stable CAD patients who were admitted for angiography and subject
attending routine checkups.
Results: There was no significant difference in RDW in patients with CAD (14.12 ± 1.31%) as compared to
controls (15.62 ± 6.51%). There was no significant difference in RWD in patients with AMI (14.36 ± 1.4%)
as compared to stable CAD (13.7 ± 1.09%) and controls (15.62 ± 6.51%). There was no significant
difference in Hct in patients with CAD (43.16 ± 5%) as compared to controls (41.9 ± 6.9%).
Conclusions: There was no association between RWD, Hct, and other RBC indices with CAD, AMI, and
stable CAD.
