The relationship between red blood cell distribution width and pulmonary hypertension secondary to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Objective To explore the relationship between red blood cell distribution width and pulmonary hypertension secondary to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods Retrospective analysis the clinical data of inpatients with COPD in the first affiliated hospital of Wannan medical college during September 2012 and October 2013.According to the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria,72 cases were divided into pulmonary hypertension group and normal pulmonary artery pressure group.General condition,underlying diseases situation,RDW and length of stay were compared between two groups.Results RDW of pulmonary hypertension was significantly higher than that of the normal pulmonary artery pressure group,(15.98 ± 1.78) ％ vs (14.46 ± 1.36) ％,respectively,which shared with significant statistical difference (P ＜0.001).However,the age,sex,hypertension,diabetes,coronary heart disease,hemoglobin,PaO2,PaCO2 and length of hospital stay of pulmonary hypertension group had no statistical difference with that of normal pulmonary artery pressure group.Pearson correlation analysis showed that RDW had a positively significant correlation with pulmonary hypertension (r =0.577,P =0.01).Conclusions RDW increases significantly in pulmonary hypertension secondary to COPD patients.RDW shared positive correlation with the severity of pulmonary hypertension.RDW may be used as a useful index to reflect the severity of pulmonary hypertension secondary to COPD. Key words: Red blood cell distribution width; Chronic obstractive pulmonary disease; Pulmonary hypertension