Is a complete blood cell count useful in determining the prognosis of pulmonary embolism?

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Is a complete blood cell count useful in determining the prognosis of pulmonary embolism?

Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2014 Jun;126(11-12):347-54

Authors: Sen HS, Abakay O, Tanrikulu AC, Sezgi C, Taylan M, Abakay A, Kaya H, Senyigit A

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the third cardiovascular cause of hospital admission, following acute coronary syndrome and stroke. Despite high-tech diagnostic methods and new treatment modalities, PEs continue to have a high mortality rate within the first 3 months. This study was designed to assess the additional prognostic value of a complete blood cell count, renal function markers, C-reactive protein, and simplified pulmonary embolism severity index (sPESI) scoring system in PE 100-day mortality.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study retrospectively enrolled 208 consecutive patients who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of an acute PE. The patients' demographic characteristics and clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded from the hospital electronic database and patient's case notes. The primary end point of the study was an adverse 100-day outcome, defined as death from any cause.
RESULTS: The all-cause mortality in the first 100 days was 14.42 %. The mean age was 57.87 ± 18.17 (range: 16-93) years. We included 79 (38 %) male and 129 (62 %) female individuals. Red cell distribution width (RDW) and sPESI were found to be statistically significant predictors of PE mortality by multivariate regression analysis. On multivariate regression analysis, RDW was associated with a 4.08-fold (95 % confidence interval: 1.229-13.335, P = 0.021) increase in PE mortality.
CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that RDW and sPESI may be a useful guide in predicting 100-day mortality. The elevated RDW may alert physicians to possible poor prognosis.

PMID: 24664312 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

One Comment

  1. OK so you missed April Fools by a day. This is a good example of finding an association with something if you look hard enough. I cant read German, but I don’t think there is an explanation for increased RDW with PE, much less mortality due to PE. Subject this one to prospective analysis please.

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