Association of red Cell Distribution width with Characteristics of Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaques as Detected by Computed Tomography Angiography

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and the severity/morphology of coronary atherosclerotic plaques (CAPs). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 572 patients without a history of coronary artery disease (CAD) in whom dual-source 64-slice computed tomography angiography (CTA) was performed due to the suspicion of CAD. Results: Critical CAPs were detected in 26.9% of subjects. The RDW value was higher in patients with critical CAPs than in those without (13.63 +/- 1.28 vs. 14.31 +/- 1.58, p<0.001). Patients with any type of CAP regardless of the morphology or severity revealed enhanced RDW levels compared with those with normal coronary arteries (p<0.001). In the multinomial logistic regression analysis, RDW was found as an independent predictor for the presence of severe CAP (odds ratio (OR): 1.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20-1.63, p<0.001). RDW was also found to be associated with the presence of non-calcified plaque (OR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.08-1.57, p=0.006) and mixed plaque morphologies (OR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.19-1.81, p<0.001) after adjusted for other variables. Conclusion: Our findings suggested that RDW as a simple, available and inexpensive biomarker was significantly associated with both the severity and vulnerable morphology of CAPs in patients undergoing coronary CTA.