title: Is a complete blood cell count useful in determining the prognosis of pulmonary embolism?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the third cardiovascular cause of hospital admission, following acute coronary syndrome and stroke. Despite high-tech diagnostic methods and new treatment modalities, PEs continue to have a high mortality rate within the first 3 months. This study was designed to assess the additional prognostic value of a complete blood cell count, renal function markers, C-reactive protein, and simplified pulmonary embolism severity index (sPESI) scoring system in PE 100-day mortality.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study retrospectively enrolled 208 consecutive patients who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of an acute PE. The patients' demographic characteristics and clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded from the hospital electronic database and patient's case notes. The primary end point of the study was an adverse 100-day outcome, defined as death from any cause.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The all-cause mortality in the first 100 days was 14.42 %. The mean age was 57.87 ± 18.17 (range: 16-93) years. We included 79 (38 %) male and 129 (62 %) female individuals. Red cell distribution width (RDW) and sPESI were found to be statistically significant predictors of PE mortality by multivariate regression analysis. On multivariate regression analysis, RDW was associated with a 4.08-fold (95 % confidence interval: 1.229-13.335, P = 0.021) increase in PE mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study demonstrated that RDW and sPESI may be a useful guide in predicting 100-day mortality. The elevated RDW may alert physicians to possible poor prognosis.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Pulmonology, Dicle University Medical Faculty, Diyarbakir, Turkey, dr.haticesen@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Hadice Selimoglu
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Abakay
authors.forename: Abdullah Cetin
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Tanrikulu
authors.forename: Cengizhan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sezgi
authors.forename: Mahsuk
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taylan
authors.forename: Abdurrahman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abakay
authors.forename: Halide
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.forename: Abdurrahman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Senyigit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001772:Blood Cell Count / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D010100:Oxygen