Abstract
Objective: Red cell distribution width (RDW) value is recently recognized as a valuable biomarker in clinical practice. RDW value has not been evaluate so far in patients with pleural effusion. Methods: The levels of LDH, protein and sugar were measured in serum and pleural fluid samples and then were correlated with RDW value in patients with pleural effusion. Results: The study was conducted in a tertiary center and included 221 patients. 118 were male and 103 were female with mean age of 61.6 years (range 24, 84). Pleural fluid was transdative in 44.8 % and exudative in 55.2% based on light criteria. Correlation of serum and pleural LDH was significant with RDW value, (r=0.357, p=0.00001),(r=0.351, 0.00001) respectively. Although serum protein levels had good correlation with RDW values (-0.263, p=0.0001), but there was no correlation between plural fluid protein levels and RDW values. There was no correlation between serum and pleural sugar with RDW. Conclusion: With regard to above findings high RDW value in patients with pleural effusion may be considered as a novel marker for exudative fluid. Keywords: Red blood cell distribution width, Pleural effusion, Exudative pleural fluid
Published Version
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