Red Cell Distribution Width and Mortality in Hemodialysis Patients: A Single Center Experience in COVID-19 Era

Introduction: Red Cell Distribution width (RDW) is found to be related with mortality in hemodialysis patients. In December 2019, a new corona virus spread was detected in China, which turned into a pandemia with significant mortality. Both RDW and chronic kidney disease were found to be related with mortality in COVID-19 patients. This study investigated if the association of RDW and mortality in hemodialysis patients still existed in the COVID-19 era. Materials and Methods: This single center study included 117 hemodialysis patients. They were followed for 20 months (between December 2019 and July 2021) or until death. The relation of RDW with all-cause mortality and COVID-19 related deaths were studied. Results: 21 (17.9%) out of 117 patients died during the follow-up. RDW was found to be an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality (HR:1.35, p=0.009). In post-hoc analyzes, RDW was significantly higher in non-COVID-19 related and cardiovascular deaths. Conclusion: RDW was found to be an independent and powerful risk factor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality even in the mortal COVID-19 era. Keywords: Red cell distribution width, Hemodialysis, Mortality, COVID-19, Chronic kidney disease, Rheumatoid arthtritis.