Abstract
Infectious endocarditis (IE) is a rare condition with an estimated
yearly incidence of 3 to 10 cases per 100,000 people[1]. Its
in-hospital mortality rate hovers around 18%, with one-year mortality
reaching up to 40%[2]. Although nearly 50% of IE cases now undergo
surgical intervention, it does not appear to elevate the in-hospital
mortality risk[3]. Wei et al conducted a study on the relationship
between red blood cell distribution width (RDW) value and postoperative
death of IE patients. Their most remarkable finding was the in-hospital
mortality rate was significantly higher in the High RDW
group(55.6%vs.2.7%)[4]. Their results suggestted that RDW may
become a valuable biomarker for estimating poor postoperative outcome in
patients with IE. RDW reflects the variable size of circulating red
blood cells and is routinely used to narrow the differential diagnosis
of anemia. However, many studies had revealed that RDW maybe a new
prognostic marker to predict the cardiovascular event. The increased
value have been always linked with inflammatory and oxidative states.
Further studies are required to explore the mechanism for the
relationship between the RDW and adverse clinical outcomes.