Usefulness of Red Blood Cell Distribution Width to Predict Heart Failure Hospitalization in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Red cell distribution width (RDW) has been associated with heart failure (HF) hospitalization in the general population, but the correlation to HF hospitalization in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is unclear.Ninety-eight HCM patients without a history of HF were enrolled and RDW was assessed as a predictor.During a 16.8 ± 9.0 month follow-up period, 17 subjects were hospitalized due to HF. HF hospitalization patients had higher RDW than non-HF patients (14.7 ± 1.4% versus 13.0 ± 0.9%, P < 0.001). The cut-off value of RDW for predicting HF hospitalization was 14% with a sensitivity of 83.2% and a specificity of 82.7%. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that brain natriuretic protein (BNP) (HR 1.028, 95% CI 1.011-1.045, P = 0.001) and RDW (HR 1.711, 95% CI 1.042-2.809, P = 0.034) were predictors of HF hospitalization.High RDW is an independent predictor of HF hospitalization and might be useful for predicting the prognosis in HCM patients.