Red Cell Distribution Width Independently Predicts Mortality in Critically Ill COPD-AF Patients

In the intensive care unit, where every data point carries weight, researchers have found that a long-familiar blood test parameter—red cell distribution width, a measure of how uniformly sized a patient's red blood cells are—may carry far more prognostic meaning than previously recognized. Analyzing over 1,200 critically ill patients with both COPD and atrial fibrillation at a major academic medical center, scientists found that elevated RDW independently predicted death across every timeframe measured, from ICU stay through one full year. The finding invites medicine to look again at what ha