Key result
Red blood cell distribution width is elevated in various autoimmune diseases and serves as a useful index to estimate disease activity.
Why the study?
Does red blood cell distribution width (RDW) estimate disease activity in patients with autoimmune diseases?
Does red blood cell distribution width (RDW) estimate disease activity in patients with autoimmune diseases?
Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a promising and useful index for estimating disease activity in various autoimmune diseases.
May support RDW monitoring in autoimmune diseases; hypothesis-generating from Level 5 evidence and requires prospective validation.
Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a traditional hematological index used to explore the etiology of anemia. During past years, association between RDW and non-hematological diseases has attracted much attention. Accumulated evidence has revealed that RDW is elevated in various autoimmune diseases and associates with disease activity or complications. Here, I summarized the evidence concerning clinical utility of RDW in autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), inflammatory myopathy (IM) and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Available evidence has supported that RDW is a useful index to estimate the activity in various autoimmune diseases. Further prospective cohort studies are needed to explore the prognostic value of RDW in autoimmune diseases.
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Zhide Hu (2016) conducted a review in Autoimmune diseases. Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) was evaluated on Disease activity. Red blood cell distribution width is elevated in various autoimmune diseases and serves as a useful index to estimate disease activity.
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