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Research Articles Supplement 3 · 2014 · pp. 100–107 · Issue page

RDW AS A NOVEL MARKER OF DISEASE ACTIVITY IN CROHN’S DISEASE-TESTING A HYPOTHESIS IN AN IBD TERTIARY CARE CENTER IN ROMANIA

CR
Cristian TIERANU1
CI
Ciprian GIGEA2
1 Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest; Resident in Gastroenterology, MD, PhD student
2 University of Medicine and Pharmacy „Carol Davila”, Bucharest
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Accepted 27 March 2026
Available Online 15 December 2014
Abstract
BACKGROUND: ONE OF THE MOST COMMON COMPLICATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE (IBD), EITHER CROHN’S DISEASE (CD) OR ULCERATIVE COLITIS (UC), IS ANEMIA. RED BLOOD CELL DISTRIBUTION WIDTH (RDW) QUANTITATIVELY MEASURES THE SIZE VARIABILITY OF THE RED BLOOD CELL POPULATION AND MIGHT INCREASE EVEN BEFORE ANEMIA MANIFESTS ITSELF. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE USEFULNESS OF RDW IN THE EVALUATION OF DISEASE ACTIVITY IN CD BY COMPARISON WITH ALREADY ACCEPTED MARKERS OF ACTIVITY SCH AS ERYTHROCYTE SEDIMENTATION RATE (ESR), C-REACTIVE PROTEIN (CRP) AND FIBRINOGEN LEVELS. WE ENROLLED 148 PATIENTS WITH CROHN’S DISEASE, AND 51 PATIENTS WITH IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME (IBS) AS THE CONTROL GROUP. RESULTS: RDW WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER ONLY FOR PATIENTS WITH SEVERE DISEASE ACTIVITY (P=0.02). RDW HAD SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER VALUES FOR THE PATIENTS WITH CD (P=0.004). RDW WAS THE MOST SENSITIVE AND SPECIFIC MARKER FOR CD WITH INFLAMMATORY PATTERN (P<0.001). ADDITIONALLY, RDW SHOWED A CORRELATION WITH THE EXTRAINTESTINAL MANIFESTATIONS OF CD (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: RDW IS NOT SUFFICIENTLY SENSITIVE OR SPECIFIC TO DIAGNOSE INDEPENDENTLY THE FLARES OF ACTIVITY IN IBD. RDW CAN BE AN ADDITIONAL MARKER IN DIFFERENTIATING CD ACTIVITY FLARES FROM OVERIMPOSED FUNCTIONAL DISORDERS (IBS). RDW CORRELATES SIGNIFICANTLY WITH EXTRAINTESTINAL MANIFESTATIONS AND INFLAMMATORY PATTERN OF CD.
Keywords
RDW INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE ACTIVITY CRP ESR
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