Relationship between red cell distribution width levels and severity of coronary artery ectasia.

OBJECTIVE Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is defined as abnormal dilatation of coronary arteries. Inflammation is thought to be important in the pathogenesis of CAE. Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is also an inflammatory marker. In this study, we examined the association between RDW levels and CAE severity. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 6737 patients who were admitted to the Cardiology Clinic of our hospital between January 2010 and December 2015 and diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD) were evaluated for inclusion. Of them, 126 patients who had CAE as a result of retrospective scanning, 104 randomly selected patients with CAD, and 76 patients who had normal coronary arteries were included in the study (n = 306). RESULTS The severity and prevalence of CAE were evaluated according to the Markis ectasia classification, and the RDW value for type 1 CAE was significantly higher than that of other types of CAE. The RDW values for types 1-4 were 19.48 ± 11.81, 15.26 ± 9.17, 15.51 ± 8.07, and 15.33 ± 7.26, respectively (p= 0.098; r = 0.114). CONCLUSIONS High RDW values are associated with CAE and CAD, and correlate with the severity of CAE. These findings indicate that RDW values can be used to estimate the severity of CAE disease.