Review article

https://doi.org/10.11613/BM.2018.030502

Red blood cell distribution width in pregnancy: a systematic review

Panagiotis Paliogiannis ; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Angelo Zinellu ; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Arduino A. Mangoni ; Department of Clinical Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
Giampiero Capobianco ; Department of Clinical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Salvatore Dessole ; Department of Clinical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Pier Luigi Cherchi ; Department of Clinical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Ciriaco Carru ; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

Abstract

Anisocytosis has been associated with the severity and prognosis of several acute and chronic diseases, as well as physiological conditions such
as pregnancy. Anisocytosis is quantified by the red blood cell distribution width (RDW), expressed as the ratio, multiplied by 100, between the
standard deviation (SD) of red blood cell volumes and the mean corpuscular volume, or as the SD of erythrocyte volumes (RDW-SD). The aim of the
present review was to report the state of the art on the physiological values and the putative diagnostic and prognostic roles of RDW in complicated
pregnancy. Literature research for articles published in the last ten years was conducted in Pubmed, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Scopus
databases. Abstracts were independently screened by two investigators. If relevant, full articles were retrieved. References, in these articles, citing
relevant reviews or original studies were also accessed to identify additional eligible studies. Any disagreement between the reviewers was resolved
by a third investigator. A total of 28 studies were included in the review. These studies reported changes in RDW values during physiological
pregnancy, and associations between the RDW and several pregnancy complications including anaemia, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and
recurrent miscarriage. This review provides background information for establishing physiological and pathological RDW values in pregnancy for
diagnostic and prognostic use in clinical practice.

Keywords

anisocytosis; RDW; pregnancy; preeclampsia; gestational diabetes

Hrčak ID:

206652

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/206652

Publication date:

15.10.2018.

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