Red Blood Cells Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) and Red Blood Distribution Width (RDW) Parameters as Potential Indicators of Regenerative Potential in Older Patients and Predictors of Acute Mortality – Preliminary Report

Abstract

This study presents the statistical results of patients who had been recently discharged from hospital within one month after their treatment in the emergency department (ED). Using routine (14,881) MCV and RDW measurements and statistical tools, we could predict acute mortality in these patients (N = 1158), adjusted for age. It is likely that an increase in the MCV and RDW parameters may correlate in some of our older patients with a poor prognosis with an increased level of circulating IGF-I, which affects red blood cell parameters. The research presents the prognostic statistics of the analyzed clinical factors as well as speculates on the potential correlation of these parameters with the regenerative potential of stem-cell compartment. Analysis shows that both MCV and RDW are statistically significant (Area Under Curve [AUC], lower CI 95% >50%) predictors of acute mortality in ED patients. The classification of patients based on their MCV threshold (= 92.2 units) indicates a proper clinical prognosis in nearly 6 of 10 subjects (AUC >58%), whereas taking into account RDW (=13.8%) indicates a proper clinical prognosis in no more than 7 of 10 individuals. The report concludes that by employing strongly fitting (95%) quadratic modeling of the ORs against the biomarkers studied, one can notice a similar relationship between MCV and RDW as diagnostic tools to predict regenerative potential and clinical outcomes in older patients. Although RDW alone had a 10% higher diagnostic value in terms of predicting early death in the emergency department in patients that were admitted to the ED and subsequently hospitalized, also taking the MCV measurement improved accuracy in predicting clinical outcomes by 2.5% compared to RDW alone.

Age‐related changes in mean corpuscular volumes in patients without anaemia: An analysis of large‐volume data from a single institute

“… 27 Ageing accelerates after reproductive age, and several mechanisms are known to accelerate this process. 28 The age‐related changes in MCV showed two linear trends with different slopes, with the distinction appearing from 25 years of age. This result may provide evidence for accelerated ageing after reproductive age, but more biological studies are needed to validate this assumption.…”

“…One recent study revealed that prolonged growth hormone, insulin and IGF nutrient response signalling pathways were silent killers of stem cells and one the factors responsible for ageing 27 . Ageing accelerates after reproductive age, and several mechanisms are known to accelerate this process 28 . The age‐related changes in MCV showed two linear trends with different slopes, with the distinction appearing from 25 years of age.…”

Usefulness of Complete Blood Count (CBC) to Assess Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases in Clinical Settings: A Comprehensive Literature Review

“…MCV means the average volume of an RBC. MCV is acquired by multiplying blood volume by hematocrit and dividing that product by the RBC count in that same volume [ 36 ]. RDW is calculated by dividing the standard deviation of MCV by MCV and multiplying the result by 100 to yield a percentage value to indicate RBC size heterogeneity.…”